A laser apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a laser oscillator that outputs pulsed laser light, a deformable mirror including a deformer that deforms a reflective surface, a first processor that drives the deformer during the period for which the reflective surface reflects the pulsed laser light, a homogenizer that homogenizes the pulsed laser light reflected off the deformable mirror, and a spectrum measuring instrument that measures the spectrum of the pulsed laser light homogenized by the homogenizer.

An exposure method includes reading data representing a relationship between a first parameter relating to an energy ratio between energy of first pulsed laser light having a first wavelength and energy of second pulsed laser light having a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength and a second parameter relating to a sidewall angle of a resist film that is the angle of a sidewall produced when the resist film is exposed to the first pulsed laser light and the second pulsed laser light, and determining a target value of the first parameter based on the data and a target value of the second parameter; and exposing the resist film to the first pulsed laser light and the second pulsed laser light by controlling a narrowed-line gas laser apparatus to output the first pulsed laser light and the second pulsed laser light based on the target value of the first parameter.

A system includes: an optical source including a plurality of optical oscillators; a spectral analysis apparatus; and a controller. Each optical oscillator is configured to produce a light beam. The controller is configured to: determine, based on data from the spectral analysis apparatus, whether the spectral property of the light beam of one of the optical oscillators is different than the spectral property of the light beam of at least another of the plurality of optical oscillators. If the spectral property of the light beam of the first one of the optical oscillators is different than the spectral property of the light beam of another of the optical oscillators, the controller is configured to adjust the spectral property of the light beam of the first one of the optical oscillators or of the light beam of at least one other of the optical oscillators.

A system includes: an optical source including a plurality of optical oscillators; a spectral analysis apparatus; and a controller. Each optical oscillator is configured to produce a light beam. The controller is configured to: determine, based on data from the spectral analysis apparatus, whether the spectral property of the light beam of one of the optical oscillators is different than the spectral property of the light beam of at least another of the plurality of optical oscillators. If the spectral property of the light beam of the first one of the optical oscillators is different than the spectral property of the light beam of another of the optical oscillators, the controller is configured to adjust the spectral property of the light beam of the first one of the optical oscillators or of the light beam of at least one other of the optical oscillators.

A line narrowing device includes first and second prisms disposed at positions different in a wavelength dispersion direction of any of the first and second prisms, a third prism disposed on the optical path of an optical beam and through which the beam width of the optical beam is enlarged and first and second parts of the optical beam are incident on the first and second prisms, respectively, a grating disposed across the optical path of the first part having passed through the first prism and the optical path of the second part having passed through the second prism, a first actuator configured to adjust the incident angle of the first part on the grating, a second actuator configured to adjust the incident angle of the second part on the grating, and a third actuator configured to adjust an energy ratio of the first and second parts.

A control method for a line narrowed gas laser apparatus is a control method for a line narrowed gas laser apparatus configured to emit a pulse laser beam including a first wavelength component and a second wavelength component. The apparatus includes a laser chamber including a pair of electrodes, an optical resonator including an adjustment mechanism configured to adjust a parameter of an energy ratio of the first and second wavelength components, and a processor in which relation data indicating a relation of the parameter of the energy ratio with a control parameter of the adjustment mechanism is stored. The control method includes receiving a command value of the parameter of the energy ratio from an external device, and acquiring, based on the relation data, a value of the control parameter corresponding to the command value and controlling the adjustment mechanism based on the value of the control parameter.

A control method of a line narrowing gas laser device includes receiving a command of either a single-wavelength mode command or a multi-wavelength mode command from an external apparatus, and controlling the line narrowing gas laser device to generate pulse laser light in accordance with the command.

A sensor degradation evaluation method according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an evaluation step of evaluating degradation of at least one of a sensor for coarse measurement that receives interference fringes produced by a spectrometer for coarse measurement and a sensor for fine measurement that receives interference fringes produced by a spectrometer for fine measurement, and the evaluation step includes causing a plurality of kinds of laser light having wavelengths different from one another to be sequentially incident on the spectrometer for coarse measurement and the spectrometer for fine measurement and acquiring a coarse-measurement wavelength and a fine-measurement wavelength on a wavelength basis from a plurality of the received interference fringes, acquiring a degradation parameter on a wavelength basis from the coarse-measurement wavelength and the fine-measurement wavelength on a wavelength basis, and comparing the degradation parameter on a wavelength basis with a threshold.

An exposure system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a laser apparatus emitting a pulse laser beam, an illumination optical system guiding the pulse laser beam to a reticle, a reticle stage moving the reticle, and a processor controlling emission of the pulse laser beam and movement of the reticle. The exposure system performs scanning exposure of a semiconductor substrate by irradiating the reticle with the pulse laser beam. The reticle has first and second regions. The processor instructs the laser apparatus about, based on proximity effect characteristics corresponding to the first and second regions, a value of a control parameter of the pulse laser beam corresponding to each region so that the laser apparatus emits the pulse laser beam with which a difference of the proximity effect characteristic of each region from a reference proximity effect characteristic is in an allowable range.

An exposure system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a laser apparatus that outputs pulsed laser light, an illuminating optical system that guides the pulsed laser light to a reticle, a reticle stage, and a processor that controls the output of the pulsed laser light from the laser apparatus and the movement of the reticle performed by the reticle stage. The reticle has a first region where a first pattern is disposed and a second region where a second pattern is disposed, and the first and second regions are each a region continuous in a scan width direction perpendicular to a scan direction of the pulsed laser light, with the first and second regions arranged side by side in the scan direction. The processor controls the laser apparatus to output the pulsed laser light according to each of the first and second regions by changing the values of control parameters of the pulsed laser light in accordance with each of the first and second regions.