Embodiments described herein provide a lithographic system having two or more lithographic tools connected to a radiation source using two or more variable attenuation units. In some embodiments, the variable attenuation unit reflects a portion of the received light beam to the lithographic tool attached thereto and transmits a remaining portion of the received light beam to the lithographic tools downstream. In some embodiments, the radiation source includes two or more laser sources to provide laser beams with an enhanced power level and which can prevent operation interruption due to laser source maintenances and repair.

Disclosed herein are methods for patterning two-dimensional atomic layer materials, the methods comprising: illuminating a first location of an optothermal substrate with electromagnetic radiation, wherein the optothermal substrate converts at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation into thermal energy, and wherein the optothermal substrate is in thermal contact with a two-dimensional atomic layer material; thereby: generating an ablation region at a location of the two-dimensional atomic layer material proximate to the first location of the optothermal substrate, wherein at least a portion of the ablation region has a temperature sufficient to ablate at least a portion of the two-dimensional atomic layer material within the ablation region, thereby patterning the two-dimensional atomic layer material. Also disclosed herein are systems for performing the methods described herein, patterned two-dimensional atomic layer materials made by the methods described herein and methods of use thereof.

The present application provides a dynamic illumination method based on a scan exposure machine, providing a mask used for exposure and a GDS file corresponding to the mask; dividing pattern information on the mask into n areas with the same width along the direction of movement of the mask during the exposure; performing SMO computation on the pattern information in the n areas, so as to generate n SMO files corresponding to the n areas respectively; performing combinatorial optimization on the n SMO files to obtain a DSMO file; generating a driver of a light source reflector array according to the DSMO file, the illumination; and controlling a reflector array of an exposure machine by calling the driver of the light source reflector array. The DSMO method is performed in each exposure slit area, so as to improve the illumination optimization for a pattern.

In an optical system for a projection exposure apparatus, the angle space of the illumination radiation of the projection optical unit at the reticle is twice as large in a first direction as the angle space of the illuminating radiation of the illuminating optical unit.

An assembly in an optical system, such as a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, includes an optical element, at least one cooling channel through which can flow a cooling fluid for cooling the optical element during the operation of the optical system, and at least one corrosion detector for detecting an existing or imminent corrosion on the basis of the determination of at least one measurement variable indicating a corrosion-dictated change in state of the cooling fluid.

A method for producing a reflecting optical element for a projection exposure apparatus (1). The element has a substrate (30) with a substrate surface (31), a protection layer (38) and a layer partial system (39) suitable for the EUV wavelength range. The method includes: (a) measuring the substrate surface (31), (b) irradiating the substrate (30) with electrons (36), and (c) tempering the substrate (30). Furthermore, an associated reflective optical element for the EUV wavelength range, a projection lens with a mirror (18, 19, 20) as reflective optical element, and a projection exposure apparatus (1) including such a projection lens.

An extreme ultraviolet light source system includes a chamber configured to maintain a pressure of an inner space thereof at a first pressure, a droplet supply unit disposed in the chamber and configured to discharge a droplet on a first path, a light source configured to emit a light for generating plasma by irradiating a laser light to the droplet at a focal point on the first path, and a suction unit disposed on the first path so as to face the droplet supply unit in the chamber and configured to suction debris of the droplet irradiated with the laser light at a second pressure, lower than the first pressure, wherein the suction unit includes a nozzle protruding from a side wall of the chamber toward the focal point, and an end of the nozzle is closer to the focal point than it is to the side wall of the chamber.

A characterization system for inspecting or performing metrology on a layer within a semiconductor stack is disclosed. The system includes an imaging sub-system configured to acquire image data from a semiconductor stack including one or more layers. The semiconductor stack includes a metal layer having a thickness between 0.5 and 10 nm deposited on a layer of the semiconductor stack to form a reflective surface on the layer. The system includes a controller. The controller is configured to receive image data of the reflective surface on the layer of the substrate stack and identify one or more defects or one or more structures within the layer based on illumination reflected from the reflective surface.

A microlithographic projection exposure mirror has a mirror substrate (12, 32), a reflection layer system (21, 41) for reflecting electromagnetic radiation that is incident on the mirror's optical effective surface, and at least one piezoelectric layer (16, 36), which is arranged between the mirror substrate and the reflection layer system and to which an electric field for producing a locally variable deformation is applied by a first electrode arrangement situated on the side of the piezoelectric layer facing the reflection layer system, and by a second electrode arrangement situated on the side of the piezoelectric layer facing the mirror substrate. One of the electrode arrangements is assigned a mediator layer (17, 37, 51, 52, 53, 71) for setting an at least regionally continuous profile of the electrical potential along the respective electrode arrangement. The mediator layer has at least two mutually electrically insulated regions (17a, 17b, 17c, . . . ; 37a, 37b, 37c, . . . ).

A system includes a plate configured for mounting of a reflective extreme ultra-violet (EUV) mask thereon and a zone plate configured to divide EUV light into zero-order light and first-order light and to pass the zero-order light and the first-order light to the reflective EUV mask. The system further includes a detector configured to receive EUV light reflected by the EUV mask and including a zero-order light detection region configured to generate a first image signal and a first-order light detection region configured to generate a second image signal, and a calculator configured to generate a compensated third image signal from the first image signal and the second image signal. The third image signal may be used to determine a distance between mask patterns of the EUV mask.