An illumination device comprises a laser source, a beam expander, a micromirror array having a first control system, a fast steering mirror having a second control system, a diaphragm array, a microlens array, an illumination lens group, and a reflection mirror sequentially along the propagation direction of the laser beam. The first control system comprises a first computer controlling each micromirror on the micro-mirror array through the micromirror array controller to rotate in two-dimensional directions so expanded beam forms desired intensity patterns on the diaphragm array after reflected by the micromirror array and fast reflection mirror and a micromirror array controller; the second control system comprises a second computer controlling the reflection mirror of the fast steering mirror to rotate through fast steering mirror controller so created intensity pattern moves relative to the diaphragm array and a fast steering mirror controller. Method for using the illumination device is provided.

A measurement illumination optical unit guides illumination light into an object field of a projection exposure apparatus for EUV lithography. The illumination optical unit has a field facet mirror with a plurality of field facets and a pupil facet mirror with a plurality of pupil facets. The latter serve for overlaid imaging in the object field of field facet images of the field facets. A field facet imaging channel of the illumination light is guided via any one field facet and any one pupil facet. A field stop specifies a field boundary of an illumination field in the object plane. The illumination field has a greater extent along one field dimension than any one of the field facet images. At least some of the field facets include tilt actuators which help guide the illumination light into the illumination field via various field facets and one and the same pupil facet.

Extreme ultra-violet (EUV) lithography ruling engine specifically configured to print one-dimensional lines on a target workpiece includes source of EUV radiation; a pattern-source defining 1D pattern: an illumination unit (IU) configured to irradiate the pattern-source; and projection optics (PO) configured to optically image, with a reduction factor N>1, the 1D pattern on image surface that is optically-conjugate to the 1D pattern. Irradiation of the pattern-source can be on-axis or off-axis. While 1D pattern has first spatial frequency, its optical image has second spatial frequency that is at least twice the first spatial frequency. The pattern-source can be flat or curved. The IU may include a relay reflector. A PO's reflector may include multiple spatially-distinct reflecting elements aggregately forming such reflector. The engine is configured to not allow formation of optical image of any 2D pattern that has spatial resolution substantially equal to a pitch of the 1D pattern of the pattern-source.

A mirror array having a total surface extending perpendicularly to a surface normal, comprises a multiplicity of mirror elements each having a reflection surface and at least one degree of freedom of displacement, wherein the totality of the mirror elements form a parqueting of a total reflection surface of the mirror array, and wherein the mirror array is embodied modularly as a tile element in such a way that the parqueting of the total reflection surface can be extended by a tiling of a plurality of such mirror arrays.

An assembly for a projection exposure apparatus for EUV projection lithography has an illumination optical unit for guiding illumination light to an illumination field, in which a lithography mask can be arranged. The illumination optical unit comprises a first facet mirror, which comprises a plurality of mirror arrays with respectively a plurality of individual mirrors. The individual mirrors provide individual mirror illumination channels for guiding illumination light partial beams to the illumination field. The mirror arrays of the first facet mirror are arranged in an array superstructure. Gaps extend along at least one main direction (HRα) between neighboring ones of the mirror arrays. Furthermore, the illumination optical unit comprises a second facet mirror, which comprises a plurality of facets, which respectively contribute to imaging a group of the individual mirrors of the field facet mirror into the illumination field via a group mirror illumination channel.

Methods are disclosed for assigning a pupil facet of a pupil facet mirror of an illumination optical unit of a projection exposure apparatus to a field facet of a field facet mirror of the illumination optical unit for the definition of an illumination channel for a partial beam of illumination light.

An illumination system for a lithographic apparatus includes an array of lenses configured to receive a radiation beam and focus the beam into a plurality of sub-beams, an array of reflective elements configured to receive the sub-beams and reflect the sub-beams so as to form an illumination beam, a beam splitting device configured to split the illumination beam into a first portion and a second portion wherein the first portion is directed to be incident on a lithographic patterning device, a focusing unit configured to focus the second portion of the illumination beam onto a detection plane such that an image is formed at the detection plane and wherein the image is an image of the sub-beams in which the sub-beams do not overlap with each other and an array of detector elements configured to measure the intensity of radiation which is incident on the detection plane.

A method of reducing image placement errors in a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus includes providing a mask, a light sensitive layer and a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus which images features of the mask onto the light sensitive surface using projection light. Subsequently, image placement errors associated with an image of the features formed on the light sensitive surface are determined either by simulation or metrologically. Then an input state of polarization of the projection light is changed to an elliptical output state of polarization which is selected such that the image placement errors are reduced.

An actuator to displace, for example a mirror, provides movement with at least two degrees of freedom by varying the currents in two electromagnets. A moving part includes a permanent magnet with a magnetic face constrained to move over a working area lying substantially in a first plane perpendicular to a direction of magnetization of the magnet. The electromagnets have pole faces lying substantially in a second plane closely parallel to the first plane, each pole face substantially filling a quadrant of the area traversed by the face of the moving magnet. An optical position sensor may direct a beam of radiation at the moving magnet through a central space between the electromagnets. The sizes of facets in a pupil mirror device may be made smaller in a peripheral region, but larger in a central region, thereby relaxing focusing requirements.

A device manufacturing method includes conditioning a beam of radiation using an illumination system. The conditioning includes controlling an array of individually controllable elements and associated optical components of the illumination system to convert the radiation beam into a desired illumination mode, the controlling including allocating different individually controllable elements to different parts of the illumination mode in accordance with an allocation scheme, the allocation scheme selected to provide a desired modification of one or more properties of the illumination mode, the radiation beam or both. The method also includes patterning the radiation beam having the desired illumination mode with a pattern in its cross-section to form a patterned beam of radiation, and projecting the patterned radiation beam onto a target portion of a substrate.