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.

A reticle inspection system and a method of handling a reticle in a reticle inspection system are provided. The reticle inspection system includes an active reticle carrier and an inspection tool. The reticle is disposed on the active reticle carrier, and the inspection tool is configured to determine an orientation of the reticle when the active reticle carrier is disposed on a reticle stage. The active reticle carrier is movable between a loading station and the reticle stage and is configured to rotate the reticle to reorient the reticle based on the orientation of the reticle while the active carrier is disposed on the reticle stage.

A method includes transferring an inner pod of a carrier out from an outer pod of the carrier into a lithography exposure apparatus, the inner pod containing a reticle including a reflective multilayer and a pellicle underlying the reflective multilayer; detecting a condition of the pellicle using a metrology device positioned on a base plate of the inner pod during transferring the inner pod in the lithography exposure apparatus; determining whether the condition of the pellicle is acceptable; issuing a warning when the condition of the pellicle is not acceptable.

A particle beam apparatus includes an object table configured to hold a semiconductor substrate; a particle beam source configured to generate a particle beam; a detector configured to detect a response of the substrate caused by interaction of the particle beam with the substrate and to output a detector signal representative of the response; and a processing unit configured to: receive or determine a location of one or more defect target areas on the substrate; control the particle beam source to inspect the one or more defect target areas; identify one or more defects within the one or more defect target areas, based on the detector signal obtained during the inspection of the one or more defect target areas; control the particle beam source to repair the one or more defects.

In accordance with some embodiments, a lithography method in semiconductor manufacturing is provided. The lithography method includes transmitting a main pulse laser to a zone of excitation through a first optic assembly. The lithography method further includes supplying a coolant to the first optic assembly and detecting a temperature of the coolant with a use of at least one sensor. The lithography method also includes adjusting a heat transfer rate between the coolant and the first optic assembly based on the temperature of the first optic assembly. In addition, the lithography method includes generating a droplet of a target material into the zone of excitation. The lithography method further includes exciting the droplet of the target material into plasma with the main pulse laser in the zone of excitation.

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.

A method of inspecting a reticle includes obtaining a first image of a surface of the reticle at a first height by scanning the reticle surface with a light source at the first height of the reticle surface relative to a reference surface height of the reticle surface and obtaining a second image of the reticle surface at a second height by scanning the reticle surface with the light source at the second height of the reticle surface relative to the reference surface height of the reticle surface. The second height is different from the first height. The first and the second images are then combined to obtain a surface profile image of the reticle.

A module for a projection exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography includes at least one optical element arranged in a holder. At least one spacer is arranged between the holder and a further holder or a main body. The spacer is designed to semi-actively vary its extent. A method for positioning at least one holder in a projection exposure apparatus for semiconductor lithography includes using a semi-active spacer is to position the holder.

System and method for monitoring of performance of a mirror array of a digital scanner with a use of light, illuminating the mirror array at grazing (off-axis) incidence, and an optical imaging system that includes a lateral shearing interferometer (operated in either static or a phase-shifting condition) during and without interrupting the process of exposure of the workpiece with the digital scanner, to either simply identify problematic pixels for further troubleshooting or measure the exact magnitude of the deformation of a mirror element of the mirror array.

The present invention provides a control apparatus for performing synchronous control to synchronize driving of a second moving member so as to follow driving of a first moving member, including a feedforward control system that includes a calculator configured to obtain an input/output response of the second moving member and position deviations of the first moving member and the second moving member while driving the first moving member and the second moving member in synchronism with each other, and calculate a feedforward manipulated variable based on the input/output response of the second moving member and the synchronous error between the first moving member and the second moving member obtained from the position deviations of the first moving member and the second moving member.