The present invention provides an exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate, the apparatus comprising: a stage configured to move while holding the substrate; a measurement device configured to measure a position of the stage; and a controller configured to control alignment of the substrate based on a position of the mark and interval information, wherein the controller is configured to: at a first timing, cause the measurement device to measure a position of the stage in a predetermined state, as a first position; and at a second timing after the first timing, cause the measurement device to measure a position of the stage in the predetermined state, as a second position, and correct the interval information based on a difference between the first position and the second position.

A method for improving imaging of a feature on a mask to a substrate during scanning operation of a lithographic apparatus. The method includes obtaining a dynamic pupil representing evolution of an angular distribution of radiation exposing a mask during a scanning operation of a lithographic apparatus and determining a variation of shift of a feature at a substrate during the scanning operation due to interaction of the dynamic pupil with the mask. The method includes configuring a mask parameter and/or or a control parameter of the lithographic apparatus to reduce the variation of shift of the feature.

Disclosed is a method of determining a complex-valued field relating to a sample measured using an imaging system. The method comprises obtaining image data relating to a series of images of the sample, imaged at an image plane of the imaging system, and for which at least two different modulation functions are imposed in a Fourier plane of the imaging system; and determining the complex-valued field from the imaging data based on the imposed modulation functions.

A metrology system having an optical measurement system serves to simulate illumination and imaging properties of an optical production system when an object is illuminated and imaged. The optical measurement system has an illumination optical unit serving to illuminate the object and having a pupil stop in the region of an illumination pupil in a pupil plane, and an imaging optical unit for imaging the object in an image plane. At least one pupil stop for specifying a plurality of measurement illumination settings created by displacing the pupil stop in the pupil plane is provided within the scope of the simulation method. Measurement aerial images are recorded in the image plane for various displacement positions of the object perpendicular to the object plane with the various measurement illumination settings. The various measurement illumination settings are specified by displacing the pupil stop. A complex mask transfer function is reconstructed from the recorded measurement aerial images. A 3-D aerial image of the optical production system is determined from the reconstructed mask transfer function and a given illumination setting of the optical production system as the result of the simulation method. The reconstruction includes the fact that profiles of stop edges of the at least one pupil stop which effectively act to specify the respective measurement illumination setting are changed in a manner going beyond a pure displacement of the stop edge when the respective measurement illumination setting is specified on the basis of the displacement position of the pupil stop. This results in an improvement of the simulation method.

A method for determining values of design variables of a lithographic process based on a predicted failure rate for printing a target pattern on a substrate using a lithographic apparatus. The method includes obtaining an image corresponding to a target pattern to be printed on a substrate using a lithographic apparatus, wherein the image is generated based on a set of values of design variables of the lithographic apparatus or a lithographic process; determining image properties, the image properties representative of a pattern printed on the substrate, the pattern corresponding to the target pattern; predicting a failure rate in printing the pattern on the substrate based on the image properties; and determining a specified value of a specified design variable based on the failure rate, the specified value to be used in the lithographic process to print the target pattern on the substrate.

While a wafer stage linearly moves in a Y-axis direction, a multipoint AF system detects surface position information of the wafer surface at a plurality of detection points that are set at a predetermined distance in an X-axis direction and also a plurality of alignment systems that are arrayed in a line along the X-axis direction detect each of marks at positions different from one another on the wafer. That is, detection of surface position information of the wafer surface at a plurality of detection points and detection of the marks at positions different from one another on the wafer are finished, only by the wafer stage (wafer) linearly passing through the array of the plurality of detection points of the multipoint AF system and the plurality of alignment systems, and therefore, the throughput can be improved.

A controller of an exposure apparatus (1) controls a second drive system so that scanning exposure is performed via a projection optical system and liquid of a liquid immersion area, from an area located on one side in a first direction, of a plurality of areas of a substrate held by a second stage that is placed facing the projection optical system and (ii) controls the second drive system so that a third stage comes close to the second stage from the other side in the first direction, and the second and the third stages that have come close together move from the other side to the one side in the first direction in order to place the third stage to face the projection optical system instead of the second stage while substantially maintaining the liquid immersion area under the lens.

A controller of an exposure apparatus is coupled to an alignment system, an aerial image measurement device and an encoder system, to control a drive system based on correction information and measurement information of the encoder system, the correction information compensating a measurement error of the encoder system that occurs due to a plurality of scale members. In an exposure operation of a substrate, a detection operation of a mark of the substrate and a fiducial mark, and a detection operation of an aerial image, the positional information of the stage is measured with the encoder system. In the exposure operation, the substrate is placed facing a lower surface of a nozzle member by a stage, and alignment between a pattern image and the substrate is performed based on detection information of the alignment system and the aerial image measurement device.

A sensor for use in lithographic apparatus of an immersion type and which, in use, comes into contact with the immersion liquid is arranged so that the thermal resistance of a first heat path from a transducer of the sensor to a temperature conditioning device is less than the thermal resistance of a second heat flow path from the transducer to the immersion liquid. Thus, heat flow is preferentially towards the temperature conditioning device and not the immersion liquid so that temperature-induced disturbance in the immersion liquid is reduced or minimized.

Position information of a movable body within an XY plane is measured with high accuracy by an encoder system whose measurement values have favorable short-term stability, without being affected by air fluctuations, and also position information of the movable body in a Z-axis direction orthogonal to the XY plane is measured with high accuracy by a surface position measuring system, without being affected by air fluctuations. In this case, since both of the encoder system and the surface position measuring system directly measure the upper surface of the movable body, simple and direct position control of the movable body can be performed.