A system comprises a plurality of laser generators, each generating a coherent beam, the plurality of laser generators arranged such that at least two of the generated coherent beams intersect with each other. The system further comprises an anti-refraction prism. The anti-refraction prism has a plurality of incident surfaces. The anti-refraction prism also has an egress surface facing a photosensitive film layer, with the coherent beams interfering within the anti-refraction prism and exiting at the egress surface to create an interference exposure pattern at an exposure region of the photosensitive film layer. Furthermore, the anti-refraction prism has a refraction index within a threshold range of the refraction index of the photosensitive film layer, and wherein the anti-refraction prism reduces a change in angle of each coherent beam in the photosensitive film layer due to refraction.

An exposure apparatus that projects a pattern of an original onto a substrate via a projection optical system and exposes the substrate is provided. The apparatus comprises an aberration correction member arranged on an optical path of exposure light between the original and the substrate, and a driver which drives the aberration correction member. The aberration correction member includes a first optical element including a first surface having a three-fold rotational symmetric aspherical shape with respect to an optical axis of the exposure light, and a second optical element spaced apart from the first optical element along the optical axis and including a second surface facing the first surface and having an aspherical shape that complementarily corrects an aberration generated by the first optical element.

An optical imaging arrangement includes an optical projection system, a support structure system and a control device. The optical projection system includes a group of optical elements supported by the support structure system and configured to transfer, in an exposure process using exposure light along an exposure light path, an image of a pattern of a mask onto a substrate. The group of optical elements includes a first optical element and a second optical element and the control device includes a sensor device and an active device. The sensor device is functionally associated to the first optical element and is configured to capture mechanical disturbance information representative of a mechanical disturbance acting on the first optical element in at least one degree of freedom up to all six degrees of freedom.

An EUV lithography apparatus may include a light source, an EUV mask and a carbon-based optical filter. The light source may generate an EUV light. The EUV mask may be configured to apply the EUV light to a photoresist film on a substrate. The carbon-based optical filter may filter a light having an OoB wavelength in the EUV light. Thus, the EUV light may not include the light having the OoB wavelength to decrease an error of a photoresist pattern formed using the EUV light.

An optical element for an optical system, in particular an optical system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus or mask inspection apparatus, and a method for correcting the wavefront effect of an optical element. The optical element has at least one correction layer (12, 22) and a manipulator that manipulates the layer stress in this correction layer such that a wavefront aberration present in the optical system is at least partially corrected by this manipulation. The manipulator has a radiation source for spatially resolved irradiation of the correction layer with electromagnetic radiation (5). This spatially resolved irradiation enables a plurality of spaced apart regions (12a, 12b, 12c, . . . ; 22a, 22b, 22c, . . . ) to be generated, equally modified in terms of their respective structures, in the correction layer.

An optical correction arrangement includes a first and a second correction component arranged in succession along an optical axis. The first and the second correction components are provided with aspherical surface contours which at least approximately add up to zero overall in a zero position of the optical correction arrangement. The optical correction arrangement also includes a manipulator for displacing the first correction component in a first direction at a first speed and for displacing the second correction component in a second direction at a second speed. The first speed is greater than the second speed.

A method includes placing a substrate on a stage of a lithography system, measuring a first height of the substrate at a first location on the substrate, measuring a second height of the substrate at a second location on the substrate, and performing a lithographic patterning process on the substrate, comprising directing a patterned beam of radiation at the substrate, moving the stage laterally to align the first location of the substrate with the patterned beam, moving the stage vertically to a first vertical position, the first vertical position based on the first height, moving the stage laterally to align the second location of the substrate with the patterned beam, and moving the stage vertically to a second vertical position, the second vertical position based on the second height.

A projection exposure method and apparatus are disclosed for exposing a radiation-sensitive substrate with at least one image of a pattern of a mask under the control of an operating control system of a projection exposure apparatus, part of the pattern lying in an illumination region is imaged onto the image field on the substrate with the aid of a projection lens, wherein all rays of the projection radiation contributing to the image generation in the image field form a projection beam path.

A system and method for patterning of a substrate at sub-micron length scales using interference lithography that includes a substrate; a chuck that promotes substrate motion; at least two EM beams; a beam phase controller, wherein the phase controller modifies phases of the EM beams with respect to each other creating an interference pattern; a displacement sensor that measures the substrate displacement; and a feedback control mechanism configured to monitor and synchronize the substrate motion with the interference pattern using the beam phase controller and the displacement sensor.

The invention relates to a method and a device for characterizing a mask for microlithography in a characterization process carried out using an optical system, wherein the optical system comprises an illumination optical unit and an imaging optical unit and wherein in the characterization process structures of the mask are illuminated by the illumination optical unit, the mask is imaged onto a detector unit by the imaging optical unit and image data recorded by the detector unit are evaluated in an evaluation unit. A method according to the invention comprises the following steps: determining a temporal variation of at least one variable that is characteristic of the thermal state of the optical system, and modifying the characterization process depending on the temporal variation determined.