A method includes projecting an illumination beam of radiation onto a metrology target on a substrate, detecting radiation reflected from the metrology target on the substrate, and determining a characteristic of a feature on the substrate based on the detected radiation, wherein a polarization state of the detected radiation is controllably selected to optimize a quality of the detected radiation.

In a method of manufacturing a photo mask for lithography, circuit pattern data are acquired. A pattern density, which is a total pattern area per predetermined area, is calculated from the circuit pattern data. Dummy pattern data for areas having pattern density less than a threshold density are generated. Mask drawing data is generated from the circuit pattern data and the dummy pattern data. By using an electron beam from an electron beam lithography apparatus, patterns are drawn according to the mask drawing data on a resist layer formed on a mask blank substrate. The drawn resist layer is developed using a developing solution. Dummy patterns included in the dummy pattern data are not printed as a photo mask pattern when the resist layer is exposed with the electron beam and is developed.

An exposure apparatus includes a projection optical system configured to project, onto a substrate, exposure light for forming a pattern on the substrate; a light shielding member having an opening for allowing light reflected by the substrate to pass therethrough and a light receiving element configured to receive a light flux passing through the opening after being reflected by the substrate; and a control unit configured to perform focus control for changing a defocus amount representing a positional deviation between a condensed position of the exposure light and the substrate in accordance with the amount of light received by the light receiving element. The light shielding member is disposed at a position that is optically conjugate to the substrate in an in-focus state where the defocus is smaller than a predetermined amount.

According to one embodiment, there is provided an exposure apparatus which projects a pattern of an original onto a substrate by a projection optical system so as to expose the substrate. The exposure apparatus includes a substrate stage, an alignment detecting system, and a controller. The substrate stage holds the substrate on which shot areas each including multiple chip areas are placed. The alignment detecting system detects multiple first alignment marks placed in a peripheral region in a first chip area in the shot area. The controller obtains the first amount of positional deviation for the first chip area according to results of detecting the multiple first alignment marks and controls exposure conditions for the first chip area in the shot area according to the first amount of positional deviation.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide improved photolithography systems and methods using a digital micromirror device (DMD). The DMD comprises columns and rows of micromirrors disposed opposite a substrate. Light beams reflect off the micromirrors onto the substrate, resulting in a patterned substrate. Certain subsets of the columns and rows of micromirrors may be positioned to the off position, such that they dump light, in order to correct for uniformity errors, i.e., features larger than desired, in the patterned substrate. Similarly, certain subsets of the columns and rows of micromirrors may be defaulted to the off position and selectively allowed to return to their programmed position in order to correct for uniformity errors, i.e., features smaller than desired, in the patterned substrate.

A microlithographic projection exposure apparatus is configured to move a substrate stage in a scanning direction during the exposure process. The apparatus includes a projection lens for imaging mask structures onto a substrate during the exposure process with a manipulation device configured to change an imaging scale of the projection lens in at least two directions independently from one another. The apparatus also includes a control apparatus configured to perform different corrections of the imaging scale by way of suitable control of the manipulation device in the scanning direction and transversely to the scanning direction.

Embodiments of the systems and methods discussed herein autofocus an imaging apparatus by pre-processing image data received via channels of the imaging system that include laser beams and sensors configured to receive image data when laser beams are applied across a substrate in a pixel-wise application across a substrate. The substrate can comprise both a photoresist and metallic material, and the images as-received by the sensors include noise from the metallic material. During pre-processing of the image data, a percentage of noise to remove from the image data is determined, and the image data is filtered. A centroid of the substrate is calculated for each channel and a focus deviation for the exposure is determined. The centroids can be combined using one or more filtering mechanisms, and the imaging system can be autofocused in an exposure position by moving the stage and/or the exposure source in one or more directions.

A substrate stage device of an exposure apparatus is equipped with: a noncontact holder that supports, in a noncontact manner, a first area and at least a partial area of a second area, of a substrate, the second area being arranged side by side with the first area in the Y-axis direction; a substrate carrier that holds the substrate held in a noncontact manner by the noncontact holder, at a position not overlapping the noncontact holder in the X-axis direction; Y linear actuators and Y voice coil motors that relatively move the substrate carrier with respect to the noncontact holder in the Y-axis direction; X voice coil motors that move the substrate carrier in the X-axis direction; and actuators that move the noncontact holder in the X-axis direction.

A plate to be positioned between a movable stage and a projection system of a lithographic apparatus, the plate having a surface to face the movable stage; an opening through the plate for passage of patterned radiation beam; one or more gas outlets in a side of the opening and in the surface of the plate, wherein the one or more gas outlets are configured to supply gas to a region between the movable stage and the projection system, wherein all of the one or more gas outlets in the surface of the plate are positioned such that, for each of such one or more gas outlets, a line that is both orthogonal to the surface and intersects the gas outlet does not intersect the patterning device at any point during the entire range of movement of the patterning device.

An exposure apparatus includes: a first light source that generates first exposure light, a diaphragm having plurality of openings positioned between the first light source and an exposure photomask, a plurality of first projection optical systems that individually project an optical image realized by the first exposure light transmitted through each of the plurality of openings on an exposure target, a second light source that generates second exposure light, and a correction stepper. The correction stepper irradiates a light amount correction region with the second exposure light so as to limit an irradiation range of the exposure target to be irradiated with the second exposure light transmitted through the exposure photomask, and the light amount correction region is a region extending in a first direction by a width of a multi-opening region in a second direction in a plan view.