A reflective microscope objective lens includes a concave mirror system that reflects incoming radiation, a convex mirror in optical communication with the concave mirror system, and a primary concave mirror in optical communication with the convex mirror. The concave mirror system includes a first concave mirror. The primary concave mirror focuses outgoing radiation onto a focal plane wherein the concave mirror system. Characteristically, the convex mirror and the primary concave mirror are arranged to direct light along a non-concentric path.

The present invention provides a projection optical system including a first concave reflecting surface, a first convex reflecting surface, a second concave reflecting surface, and a third concave reflecting surface, wherein the first concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, the second concave reflecting surface, and the third concave reflecting surface are arranged such that light from an object plane forms an image on an image plane by being reflected by the first concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, the second concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, and the third concave reflecting surface in an order named.

A catadioptric projection optical system for forming a reduced image of a first surface (R) on a second surface (W) is a relatively compact projection optical system having excellent imaging performance as well corrected for various aberrations, such as chromatic aberration and curvature of field, and being capable of securing a large effective image-side numerical aperture while suitably suppressing reflection loss on optical surfaces.

The present invention provides a projection optical system including a first concave reflecting surface, a first convex reflecting surface, a second concave reflecting surface, and a third concave reflecting surface, wherein the first concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, the second concave reflecting surface, and the third concave reflecting surface are arranged such that light from an object plane forms an image on an image plane by being reflected by the first concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, the second concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, and the third concave reflecting surface in an order named.

The present invention provides a projection optical system including a first concave reflecting surface, a first convex reflecting surface, a second concave reflecting surface, and a third concave reflecting surface, wherein the first concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, the second concave reflecting surface, and the third concave reflecting surface are arranged such that light from an object plane forms an image on an image plane by being reflected by the first concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, the second concave reflecting surface, the first convex reflecting surface, and the third concave reflecting surface in an order named.

A projection objective includes at least four curved mirrors, which include a first curved mirror that is a most optically forward mirror and a second curved mirror that is a second most optically forward mirror, as defined along a light path. In addition, an intermediate lens element is disposed physically between the first and second mirrors, the intermediate lens element being a single pass type lens. The objective forms an image with a numerical aperture of at least substantially 1.0 in immersion.

A projection objective configured to image an object field in an object plane into an image field in an image field plane includes a reflective unit, a first refractive unit, and a second refractive unit. An optical axis of the first refractive unit is parallel to but displaced from an optical axis of the second refractive unit. The reflective unit includes a first curved mirror and a second curved mirror. The second curved mirror is immediately downstream from the first curved mirror in a path of light from the object plane to the image plane. The projection objective is a microlithography projection objective.

A catadioptric projection objective images a pattern provided in an object plane of the projection objective onto an image plane of the projection objective. The projection objective includes first, second and third objective parts. The first objective part images the pattern into a first intermediate image. The second objective part images the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image. The third objective part images the second intermediate image onto the image plane. A first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and at least one second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface are arranged upstream of the second intermediate image. Pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate images and between the second intermediate image and the image plane. All concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface.

A spectrograph that includes a first mirror having flat a mirror reflective surface and positioned to reflect light traversing a prism, a second mirror having a concave-shaped reflective mirror surface and positioned to reflect light received from the first mirror, a third mirror having a convex-shaped reflective mirror surface and positioned to receive light reflected by the second mirror, a fourth mirror having a spheroidal reflective mirror surface and positioned to receive light reflected by the third mirror, and a field lens comprising a concave mirror surface in combination with a convex mirror surface, wherein light received by said field lens from said fourth mirror enters said convex mirror surface, traverses said field lens, and exits from said concave mirror surface. The fifth mirror is positioned such that the second mirror, third mirror, fourth mirror, and fifth mirror share a common vertex axis.

A spectrograph that includes a first mirror having flat a mirror reflective surface and positioned to reflect light traversing a prism, a second mirror having a concave-shaped reflective mirror surface and positioned to reflect light received from the first mirror, a third mirror having a convex-shaped reflective mirror surface and positioned to receive light reflected by the second mirror, a fourth mirror having a spheroidal reflective mirror surface and positioned to receive light reflected by the third mirror, and a field lens comprising a concave mirror surface in combination with a convex mirror surface, wherein light received by said field lens from said fourth mirror enters said convex mirror surface, traverses said field lens, and exits from said concave mirror surface. The fifth mirror is positioned such that the second mirror, third mirror, fourth mirror, and fifth mirror share a common vertex axis.