Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
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Application No.: US14807458Application Date: 2015-07-23
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Publication No.: US09964858B2Publication Date: 2018-05-08
- Inventor: Joannes Theodoor De Smit , Vadim Yevgenyevich Banine , Theodorus Hubertus Josephus Bisschops , Marcel Mathijs Theodore Marie Dierichs , Theodorus Marinus Modderman
- Applicant: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
- Applicant Address: NL Veldhoven
- Assignee: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
- Current Assignee: ASML NETHERLANDS B.V.
- Current Assignee Address: NL Veldhoven
- Agency: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
- Priority: EP03253694 20030611
- Main IPC: G03B27/52
- IPC: G03B27/52 ; G03F7/20

Abstract:
A lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method makes use of a liquid confined in a reservoir between the projection system and the substrate. Bubbles forming in the liquid from dissolved atmospheric gases or from out-gassing from apparatus elements exposed to the liquid are detected and/or removed so that they do not interfere with exposure and lead to printing defects on the substrate. Detection may be carried out by measuring the frequency dependence of ultrasonic attenuation in the liquid and bubble removal may be implemented by degassing and pressurizing the liquid, isolating the liquid from the atmosphere, using liquids of low surface tension, providing a continuous flow of liquid through the imaging field, and/or phase shifting ultrasonic standing-wave node patterns.
Public/Granted literature
- US20150331334A1 LITHOGRAPHIC APPARATUS AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD Public/Granted day:2015-11-19
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