In corner sections of first to fourth quadrants whose origin point is a center of an upper surface of a stage, three each of two-dimensional heads are provided. The three each of two-dimensional heads include one first head and two second heads. The stage is driven, while measuring a position of the stage using three first heads that face a two-dimensional grating of a scale plate provided above the stage from the four first heads, and during the driving, difference data of measurement values of the two second heads with respect to the first head in a measurement direction are taken in for head groups to which the three first heads belong, respectively, and using the difference data, grid errors are calibrated.

An actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition includes a resin whose solubility in an aqueous alkali solution increases by the action of an acid, a compound that generates an acid upon irradiation with actinic rays or radiation, an ester compound, and a fluorine-containing polymer, in which the ester compound has alkali decomposability and has a molecular weight of 50 or more and less than 1,500.

The disclosure relates to a sequential infiltration synthesis apparatus comprising: a reaction chamber constructed and arranged to accommodate at least one substrate; a first precursor flow path to provide the first precursor to the reaction chamber when a first flow controller is activated; a second precursor flow path to provide a second precursor to the reaction chamber when a second flow controller is activated; a removal flow path to allow removal of gas from the reaction chamber; a removal flow controller to create a gas flow in the reaction chamber to the removal flow path when the removal flow controller is activated; and, a sequence controller operably connected to the first, second and removal flow controllers and the sequence controller being programmed to enable infiltration of an infiltrateable material provided on the substrate in the reaction chamber. The apparatus may be provided with a heating system.

A method for determining a patterning device pattern. The method includes obtaining (i) an initial patterning device pattern having at least one feature, and (ii) a desired feature size of the at least one feature, obtaining, based on a patterning process model, the initial patterning device pattern and a target pattern for a substrate, a difference value between a predicted pattern of the substrate image by the initial patterning device and the target pattern for the substrate, determining a penalty value related the manufacturability of the at least one feature, wherein the penalty value varies as a function of the size of the at least one feature, and determining the patterning device pattern based on the initial patterning device pattern and the desired feature size such that a sum of the difference value and the penalty value is reduced.

A chemically-amplified negative resist composition includes: (A) a quencher containing an onium salt shown by the following formula (A-1); (B) a base polymer containing repeating units shown by the following formulae (B1) and (B2); and (C) a photo-acid generator which generates an acid. Thus, the present invention provides: a negative resist composition which can form a favorable profile with high sensitivity and low LWR and CDU in a pattern; and a resist patterning process using the composition. ##STR00001##

A debris collection and metrology system for collecting and analyzing debris from a tip used in nanomachining processes, the system including an irradiation source, an irradiation detector, an actuator, and a controller. The irradiation source is operable to direct incident irradiation onto the tip, and the irradiation detector is operable to receive a sample irradiation from the tip, the sample irradiation being generated as a result of the direct incident irradiation being applied onto the tip. The controller is operatively coupled to an actuator system and the irradiation detector, and the controller is operable to receive a first signal based on a first response of the irradiation detector to the sample irradiation, and the controller is operable to effect relative motion between the tip and at least one of the irradiation source and the irradiation detector based on the first signal.

A substrate holder for use in a lithographic apparatus and configured to support a substrate, the substrate holder including a main body having a main body surface; a plurality of burls projecting from the main body surface to support the substrate spaced apart from the main body surface; and a liquid control structure provided in a peripheral region of the main body surface and configured to cause liquid to preferentially flow toward the periphery of the main body surface.

According to one embodiment, a pattern inspection method includes detecting a region of a photomask having a pattern that differs from a corresponding design, acquiring an exposure focus shift information including an exposure focus shift amount of a portion of a substrate corresponding to the detected region of the photomask. The exposure focus shift amount for the detected region is acquired from the exposure focus shift information, and then a pass/fail determination for the detected region is performed based on an estimated pattern to be formed on the substrate.

A storage apparatus for storing an object includes a load port unit that a receptacle is loaded onto or unloaded from, in which the receptacle accommodates the object in a storage space formed by a body and a cover that covers the body, and a controller. The load port unit includes a housing having an interior space, a stage member that is provided on the housing and that opens the storage space by moving the body, the receptacle being seated on the stage member, and an exhaust tube that evacuates a spacing space between the body and the cover spaced apart from each other. One end of the exhaust tube faces toward the spacing space, and an opposite end of the exhaust tube faces toward the interior space.

An information processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire process information about a substrate process, the process information including process data and a process condition, and a display control unit configured to control a display on a display apparatus based on the process information acquired by the acquisition unit, wherein the display control unit selectively displays, on the display apparatus, a first screen that displays the process data of a lot including a plurality of substrates on a lot-by-lot basis and a second screen that displays the process data of a first lot on a substrate-by-substrate basis, the first lot being a lot designated by a user from the lot displayed on the first screen.