A beam-splitting apparatus arranged to receive an input radiation beam and split the input radiation beam into a plurality of output radiation beams. The beam-splitting apparatus comprising a plurality of reflective diffraction gratings arranged to receive a radiation beam and configured to form a diffraction pattern comprising a plurality of diffraction orders, at least some of the reflective diffraction gratings being arranged to receive a 0.sup.th diffraction order formed at another of the reflective diffraction gratings. The reflective diffraction gratings are arranged such that the optical path of each output radiation beam includes no more than one instance of a diffraction order which is not a 0.sup.th diffraction order.

An exposure apparatus and method. The exposure apparatus includes a control system, light source system, plurality of illumination systems and plurality of projection objective lenses. The light source system is configured to emit a plurality of first illumination beams incident on the illumination systems. Each illumination system includes a variable attenuator and branch energy detector. The branch energy detector is configured to detect an illuminance level of a second illumination beam generated in the corresponding illumination system and feed it back to the control system. The control system is configured to adjust the illuminance levels of the second illumination beams in the respective illumination systems by controlling the respective variable attenuators therein. The exposure apparatus and method have improved exposure performance and allow finer and faster energy adjustments, thus enabling precise control and higher exposure accuracy.

Disclosed are systems and methods for achieving sub-diffraction limit resolutions for fabrication of integrated circuits. In one embodiment, a photolithography system is disclosed. The system includes a light source, configured to emit laser beams; a reflector configured to receive the laser beams and focus the laser beams on a condensing lens; a scattering medium, configured to receive the laser beams and generate scattered laser beams; and a wave-front shaping module, configured to receive the scattered laser beams and generate a focused laser beam on a silicon wafer.

Disclosed are systems and methods for achieving sub-diffraction limit resolutions for fabrication of integrated circuits. In one embodiment, a photolithography system is disclosed. The system includes a light source, configured to emit laser beams; a reflector configured to receive the laser beams and focus the laser beams on a condensing lens; a scattering medium, configured to receive the laser beams and generate scattered laser beams; and a wave-front shaping module, configured to receive the scattered laser beams and generate a focused laser beam on a silicon wafer.

The present invention discloses a digital photolithography method for a fiber optic device (FOD) based on a DMD combination. In this method, reflected light modulated by two DMDs is simultaneously projected onto a same position on an optical fiber end surface through one reduction projection lens. The two DMDs form a primary and secondary digital mask for joint control of an exposure dose distribution formed when patterns are shrunk and projected onto the optical fiber end surface. After the optical fiber end surface coated with photoresist is subject to this dose of exposure, developing, fixing, and etching are conducted, to form a micro-optic device on the optical fiber end surface. In the present invention, distribution of the exposure dose jointly modulated by a digital mask combination formed by the primary and secondary DMD exceeds an order of modulation of an exposure dose by a single DMD.

A projection exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography has a connecting element for connecting a component of the apparatus to a supporting cooling structure of the apparatus. The connecting element has a receiving region for receiving the component, and the connecting element has a foot region for connecting the connecting element to the supporting cooling structure. At least one joint is arranged between the receiving and foot regions, and at least one heat conducting element is arranged between the receiving and foot regions. The heat conducting element is soft in the actuation direction of the joint and has a stiffness perpendicularly to the actuation direction of the joint that is at least twice as large as in the actuation direction of the joint.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus including mask pattern formed on a mask substrate. A plurality of spatial radiation modulators may be vertically displaced from the mask pattern, and distributed across a two-dimensional area. Each of the plurality of spatial radiation modulators may be adjustable between a first transparent state and a second transparent state to control whether radiation transmitted through the mask pattern passes through each of the plurality of spatial radiation modulators.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an apparatus including mask pattern formed on a mask substrate. A plurality of spatial radiation modulators may be vertically displaced from the mask pattern, and distributed across a two-dimensional area. Each of the plurality of spatial radiation modulators may be adjustable between a first transparent state and a second transparent state to control whether radiation transmitted through the mask pattern passes through each of the plurality of spatial radiation modulators.

An exposure system (10), an exposure apparatus and an exposure method are disclosed. The exposure system (10) includes: a laser unit (11), a light spot switching unit (12) and a lens unit (13); the laser unit (11) is configured for producing a laser beam; the light spot switching unit (12) is configured to direct the laser beam to travel along one of different optical paths based on a desired size of a light spot for a workpiece to be exposed so that a laser beam in correspondence with the desired size of the light spot is obtained; and the lens unit (13) is configured for altering a direction in which the laser beam is incident on the workpiece. The light spot switching unit (12) enables the laser beam to be switched between the different optical paths so as to form light spots sized in different ranges, which can satisfy different needs of workpieces with various critical dimensions. As a result, an improvement in processing adaptability to different workpieces and a significant reduction in cost can be achieved.

An imprint method includes supplying a first photocurable resist to a first region of an object; irradiating the first resist with first light; forming a second resist over the object; bringing a template into contact with the second resist; and irradiating at least the second resist with second light through the template while the template is in contact with the second resist.