Lithographic apparatus and monitoring method

• US 8,432,529 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2010
• Issued: 04/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Original Assignee: ASML Netherlands BV (ASML Holding NV)
• Inventors: Van Der Veen, Paul, Godfried, Herman Philip, Claessens, Bert Jan
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Peter B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Persaud, Deoram
• Application Number:
  US12/822,447
• Publication Number:
  US 20110026001A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,041 Days
• Field of Search: 355/53, 355/55, 355/35
• US Class Current: 355/35
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/7085 Detection arrangement, e.g. detectors of apparatus alignment possibly mounted on wafers, exposure dose, photo-cleaning flux, stray light, thermal load

Abstract

A lithographic apparatus including a radiation beam monitoring apparatus, the radiation beam monitoring apparatus including an optical element configured to generate a diffraction pattern, and an imaging detector located after the optical element and not in a focal plane of the optical element such that the imaging detector is capable of detecting a mixture of spatial coherence and divergence of the radiation beam.

Claims

1. A lithographic apparatus comprising a radiation beam monitoring apparatus, the radiation beam monitoring apparatus comprising an optical element configured to generate a diffraction pattern, and an imaging detector located after the optical element and not in a focal plane of the optical element such that the imaging detector is capable of detecting a mixture of spatial coherence and divergence of a radiation beam of the lithographic apparatus.

2. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the imaging detector is located before the focal plane of the optical element.

3. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radiation beam monitoring apparatus further comprises an analyzer configured to measure a property of an image detected by the imaging detector.

4. The lithographic apparatus of claim 3, wherein the analyzer is configured to compare the measured property with a threshold.

5. The lithographic apparatus of claim 3, wherein the property is determined by one of the following methods:

deconvoluting the detected image with an existing image and measuring a width of a resulting profile, or

measuring a contrast of the detected image, or

cross-correlating the detected image with an existing image, or

performing a grid deformation fit of the detected image.

6. The lithographic apparatus of claim 3, wherein the analyzer is configured to determine whether the radiation beam has a mixture of spatial coherence and divergence which would be likely to damage an optical component of the lithographic apparatus.

7. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the optical element is a lens or a pinhole.

8. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein a distance between the optical element and the imaging detector is at least one quarter of a distance between the optical element and the focal plane.

9. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein a distance between the imaging detector and the focal plane is at least one quarter of a distance between the optical element and the focal plane.

10. The lithographic apparatus of claim 9, wherein the distance between the imaging detector and the focal plane is at least half of the distance between the optical element and the focal plane.

11. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radiation beam monitoring apparatus is provided in an illuminator of the lithographic apparatus, a beam delivery system of the lithographic apparatus, or a source of the lithographic apparatus.

12. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the lithographic apparatus further comprises an illumination mode selector comprising an array of reflective elements which may be used to apply an illumination mode to the radiation beam.

13. The lithographic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mixture of spatial coherence and divergence of the radiation beam is a measurement that is different from a measurement of spatial coherence of the radiation beam or a measurement of divergence of the radiation beam.

14. A monitoring method comprising using an optical element and an imaging detector which is not located in a focal plane of the optical element to obtain an image of a radiation beam of a lithographic apparatus, the image providing information relating to a mixture of spatial coherence and divergence of the radiation beam.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a property of the image is determined and compared with a threshold value.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the property is determined by one of the following methods:

deconvoluting an image detected by the detector with an existing image and measuring a width of the resulting profile, or

measuring a contrast of the detected image, or

cross-correlating the detected image with an existing image, or

performing a grid deformation fit of the detected image.

17. The method of claim 14, comprising determining whether the radiation beam has a mixture of spatial coherence and divergence which would be likely to damage an optical component of the lithographic apparatus or to generate a poor quality illumination mode.