A difficulty of contamination interfering with a grid plate positional measurement system is addressed. In one embodiment contamination is prevented from coming into contact with the grating or the sensor. In an embodiment, surface acoustic waves are used to detach contamination from a surface of the grating or sensor.

A method of aligning a pair of complementary diffraction patterns having a first complementary diffraction pattern and a second complementary diffraction pattern, the pair of complementary diffraction patterns obtained from performance of a metrology process on a structure formed by a lithographic process. The method includes performing at least a fine alignment stage to align the pair of complementary diffraction patterns. The alignment stage includes: interpolating measured values of the first complementary diffraction pattern over at least a portion of a detector area; and minimizing a residual between measured values in the second complementary diffraction pattern and corresponding interpolated values from the interpolation of the first complementary diffraction pattern, by one or both of translation and rotation of the second complementary diffraction pattern.

An imaging device provides a mobile device multi-feed scanner, which may utilize remote data capture for multi-sheet feed scanning by using mirrors to form a reflective path allowing the viewing of the reverse side of the check on a platform to capture the check image on a mobile device. A camera on the mobile device may either sequentially or simultaneously capture a picture of both the front and back sides of the check. The platform may include a transparent portion, which may be adjacent to a stage portion. The first and second mirrors may be positioned such as to allow imaging of a reverse side of an object through the transparent portion of the platform while the object rests on the stage portion.

Lithography systems and methods are provided with enhanced performance based on broader utilization of the integrated metrology tool in the printing tool to handle the metrology measurements in the system in a more sophisticated and optimized way. Additional operation channels are disclosed, enabling the integrated metrology tool to monitor and/or allocate metrology measurements thereby and by a standalone metrology tool with respect to specified temporal limitations of the printing tool; to adjust and optimize the metrology measurement recipes; to provide better process control to optimize process parameters of the printing tool; as well as to group process parameters of the printing tool according to a metrology measurements landscape.

An imaging device provides a mobile device multi-feed scanner, which may utilize remote data capture for multi-sheet feed scanning by using mirrors to form a reflective path allowing the viewing of the reverse side of the check on a platform to capture the check image on a mobile device. A camera on the mobile device may either sequentially or simultaneously capture a picture of both the front and back sides of the check. The platform may include a transparent portion, which may be adjacent to a stage portion. The first and second mirrors may be positioned such as to allow imaging of a reverse side of an object through the transparent portion of the platform while the object rests on the stage portion.

An apparatus for generating extreme ultraviolet light used with a laser apparatus and connected to an external device so as to supply the extreme ultraviolet light thereto includes a chamber provided with at least one inlet through which a laser beam is introduced into the chamber; a target supply unit provided on the chamber configured to supply a target material to a predetermined region inside the chamber; a discharge pump connected to the chamber; at least one optical element provided inside the chamber; an etching gas introduction unit provided on the chamber through which an etching gas passes; and at least one temperature control mechanism for controlling a temperature of the at least one optical element.

An apparatus for generating extreme ultraviolet light used with a laser apparatus and connected to an external device so as to supply the extreme ultraviolet light thereto includes a chamber provided with at least one inlet through which a laser beam is introduced into the chamber; a target supply unit provided on the chamber configured to supply a target material to a predetermined region inside the chamber; a discharge pump connected to the chamber; at least one optical element provided inside the chamber; an etching gas introduction unit provided on the chamber through which an etching gas passes; and at least one temperature control mechanism for controlling a temperature of the at least one optical element.

Using a substrate on which a structure has been formed with a plurality of sets of processing conditions, the present disclosure provides an evaluation device that evaluates one of said sets of processing conditions with high precision. This evaluation device is provided with an illumination system that uses illuminating light to illuminate a wafer on which a pattern has been provided via exposure using a plurality of sets of exposure conditions, including first exposure conditions and second exposure conditions; a light-receiving system and an imaging unit the detect light coming from the surface of the wafer; and a computation unit that, on the basis of detection results obtained by the imaging unit using first diffraction conditions and second diffraction conditions that differ in terms of illumination conditions and/or detection conditions, and that estimates the first exposure conditions used when the wafer is exposed.

A method including obtaining a first value of an optical characteristic determined for an etched profile of a substrate measured at a first wavelength of measurement radiation, obtaining a second value of the optical characteristic determined for the etched profile of the substrate measured at a second wavelength of measurement radiation, and obtaining a derived value that represents a difference between the first and second values; and determining, based on the first and second values or on the derived value, an occurrence of a tilt in the etching to form the etched profile.

A lithographic apparatus including a fluid handling structure configured to contain immersion fluid in a space adjacent to an upper surface of the substrate table and/or a substrate located in a recess of the substrate table, a cover having a planar main body that, in use, extends around a substrate from the upper surface to a peripheral section of an upper major face of the substrate in order to cover a gap between an edge of the recess and an edge of the substrate, and an immersion fluid film disruptor, configured to disrupt the formation of a film of immersion fluid between an edge of the cover and immersion fluid contained by the fluid handling structure during movement of the substrate table relative to the fluid handling structure.