The present application discloses a scanning electron microscopic direct-write lithography system based on a compliant nano servo motion system, which includes an electron chamber, an ion chamber, a specimen chamber and a control system, wherein the electron chamber includes an electron chamber housing, an electron gun, an anode, an electron beam blanker, an electromagnetic lens and an electron beam deflection coil, the ion chamber includes an ion chamber housing, an ion source, an ion beam-scanning deflection electrode and the like, the specimen chamber includes a specimen chamber housing, a secondary electron detector, a nanoscale-precision compliant servo motion stage system and the like; control system includes a computer, an electron beam scanning controller, an ion beam scanning controller and the like.

The present invention relates to a method for non-invasive production of defined structures inside compartments, wherein the method comprises the steps of: providing a compartment having an inside filled with a liquid, comprising a photoresist, and applying light to the inside of the compartment including the photoresist, wherein the light has a focal point inside the compartment and initiates a chemical reaction of the photoresist at the focal point, creating a defined structure. Further, the present invention relates to a compartment, having an inside, surrounded by a compartment wall, wherein the compartment comprises a defined structure obtainable by a method according to any one of the preceding claims.

A device having a waveguide formed of a continuous body of material that is transparent to radiation that passes through the waveguide, wherein the body has an input surface and an output surface, and a cooler configured to cool the input surface and/or the output surface. An exposure apparatus having a programmable patterning device that comprises a plurality of radiation emitters, configured to provide a plurality of radiation beams; and a projection system, comprising a stationary part and a moving part, configured to project the plurality of radiation beams onto locations on a target that are selected based on a pattern, wherein at least one of the radiation emitters comprises a waveguide configured to output a radiation beam that comprises unpolarized and/or circularly polarized radiation.

A DUV scanned-spot-array lithography system comprises an array of phase- Fresnel microlenses, which focus multiple radiation beams through intermediate foci at the object surface of a projection system. The intermediate foci are imaged by the projection system onto corresponding focused-radiation spots on an image plane, and the spots expose a photosensitive layer proximate the image plane as the layer is scanned in synchronization with modulation of the beams. The modulators may comprise micromechanical shutters proximate the intermediate foci for ON/OFF switching, in series with transmission grating modulators for gray-level control, and the microlenses may also be actuated to provide dynamic beam centering control. A nodal line printing technique may be used to provide ultra-high-resolution and high-throughput maskless printing capability in conjunction with multi-patterning or dual-wavelength recording processes.

In an embodiment, a lithographic apparatus is disclosed that includes a modulator configured to expose an exposure area of the substrate to a plurality of beams modulated according to a desired pattern and a projection system configured to project the modulated beams onto the substrate. The modulator includes a deflector to displace the plurality of beams with respect to an exposure area.

Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and apparatus useful in the nanopatterning of large area substrates, where a rotatable mask is used to image a radiation-sensitive material. Typically the rotatable mask comprises a cylinder. The nanopatterning technique makes use of Near-Field photolithography, where the mask used to pattern the substrate is in contact or close proximity with the substrate. The Near-Field photolithography may make use of an elastomeric phase-shifting mask, or may employ surface plasmon technology, where a rotating cylinder surface comprises metal nano holes or nanoparticles.

A method of operating a microlithographic apparatus comprises the steps of providing an illumination system comprising an array of tiltable mirrors, wherein a light irradiance distribution on the array varies by at least 50% along a first line; specifying a scan integrated target angular light distribution and a target light energy for a point moving through an illumination field along a second line that extends parallel to a scan direction and is an image of the first line; determining a group of those mirrors through which the first line extends; determining tilt angles of the mirrors of the group such that a real angular light distribution and a real light energy for the point approximate the respective target values; producing the illumination field by forming an image of the array on a mask; and imaging a portion of the mask on a surface while the mask moves along the scan direction.

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and method for adaptively generating a pattern for fabricating semiconductor devices, the method comprising obtaining image data of a surface, and dynamically modifying a pattern to be applied to the surface based on the obtained image data.

There is disclosed an exposure apparatus, a device manufacturing method and a method of manufacturing an attenuator. According to an embodiment, the exposure apparatus includes a programmable patterning device configured to provide a plurality of individually controllable radiation beams; a projection system configured to project each of the radiation beams onto a respective location on a target; and an attenuator configured to reduce a standard deviation in maximum radiation flux or background exposure level that can be applied to the target by the radiation beams as a function of position on the target.

A lithographic or exposure apparatus has a projection system and a controller. The projection system includes a stationary part and a moving part. The projection system is configured to project a plurality of radiation beams onto locations on a target. The locations are selected based on a pattern. The controller is configured to control the apparatus to operate in a first mode or a second mode. In the first mode the projection system delivers a first amount of energy to the selected locations. In the second mode the projection system delivers a second amount of energy to the selected locations. The second amount of energy is greater than the first amount of energy.