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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8115907 | Container and exposure apparatus having the same A method of forming a container having a lid and a container body which define an inside space, and a material containing an organic compound provided in the inside space. The method includes forming a groove and a communication member for communicating the groove w... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8107055 | Substrate conveyance device and substrate conveyance method, exposure apparatus and exposure method, device manufacturing method A method of pattern forming includes forming a resist film on a substrate, transferring a pattern onto the resist film by an immersion lithography method using a liquid immersion fluid to form a latent image on the resist film, conducting a first inspection to inspe... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8089616 | Pattern forming method and apparatus, exposure method and apparatus, and device manufacturing method and device During a period after starting exposure to a plurality of shot areas subject to exposure on a wafer until completing the exposure, a light via a slit pair arranged on a stage that holds the wafer, of illumination light via a pattern generating device, is received, a... | 01/03/2012 |
| 8085386 | Method for determining exposure condition and computer-readable storage media storing program for determining exposure condition A method for determining an exposure condition for use in projecting an image of a pattern of an original on a substrate includes a setting step of setting an exposure condition, an image calculating step of calculating a dimension of an image to be projected on the... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8077292 | Projection exposure method A projection exposure method that projects the shape of a hole onto a wafer by projecting a diffracted light, which is produced by applying light to a mask having a pattern for forming a hole pattern, onto the wafer through a projection optical system for exposure, ... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8077291 | Substrate placement in immersion lithography A method for determining an offset between a center of a substrate and a center of a depression in a chuck includes providing a test substrate to the depression, the test substrate having a dimension smaller than a dimension of the depression, measuring a position o... | 12/13/2011 |
| 8068213 | Photomask, method of lithography, and method for manufacturing the photomask A photomask has a monitoring pattern configured to obtain information required for adjusting optical system of a projection lithography tool. The monitoring pattern encompasses a mask substrate and an asymmetrical diffraction grating delineated on the mask substrate... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8059262 | Calculation program, and exposure method for calculating light intensity distribution formed on image plane The present invention provides a calculation method of calculating, by a computer, a light intensity distribution formed on an image plane of a projection optical system, comprising a step of dividing an effective light source formed on a pupil plane of the projecti... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8031330 | Mixed polarization state monitoring Mixed polarization state monitoring is presented. One method may include selecting a set of total dose values, and for each total dose value: exposing a location on a photoresist using illumination having an x-polarization value with an x-exposure dose ratio value o... | 10/04/2011 |
| 8031329 | Overlay mark, and fabrication and application of the same An overlay mark is described, including a portion of a lower layer having two x-directional and two y-directional bar-like patterns therein, and two x-directional and two y-directional photoresist bars defined by the lithography process for defining an upper layer a... | 10/04/2011 |
| 7999920 | Method of performing model-based scanner tuning A model-based tuning method for tuning a first lithography system utilizing a reference lithography system, each of which has tunable parameters for controlling imaging performance. The method includes the steps of defining a test pattern and an imaging model; imagi... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7978310 | Projection optical system, exposure system, and exposure method A liquid immersion type projection optical system that can stably prevent the outflow of immersion liquid into inside of an optical system and can maintain good imaging performance. In the projection optical system of the present invention, an optical path between a... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7965382 | Methods and apparatus for multi-exposure patterning In some aspects, a reticle is provided for use in forming a patterned region on a substrate using a multi-pattern, multi-exposure process. The reticle includes (a) a first pattern for the multi-pattern, multi-exposure process formed on a first region of the reticle;... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7864301 | Source and mask optimization by changing intensity and shape of the illumination source An illumination source is optimized by changing the intensity and shape of the illumination source to form an image in the image plane that maximizes the minimum ILS at user selected fragmentation points while forcing the intensity at the fragmentation points to be ... | 01/04/2011 |
| 7830497 | System and method for using a two part cover and a box for protecting a reticle Systems and methods to protect a mask from being contaminated by airborne particles are described. The systems and methods include providing a reticle secured in a two-part cover. The two part cover includes a removable protection device used to protect the reticle ... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7812930 | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using repeated patterns in an LCD to reduce datapath volume A method and device for programming an array of individually controllable elements configured to impart a beam with a pattern. For example, the method can be suitable for use in a lithographic apparatus. The method includes generating first data representing a first... | 10/12/2010 |
| 7804584 | Integrated circuit manufacturing methods with patterning device position determination Methods of manufacturing an integrated circuit by a lithographic apparatus are disclosed. The methods include patterning a radiation beam with a patterning device, projecting the patterned beam onto a substrate using a projection system, and determining the position... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7791710 | System and method for determining maximum operational parameters used in maskless applications A lithographic method and apparatus for determining operational parameters of a maskless lithography tool. In an embodiment, an amount of data in a datapath of the maskless lithography system is reduced. A maximum value of at least one operational parameter of the m... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7791711 | Projection method including pupillary filtering and a projection lens therefor Processes for producing semiconductor components and/or other finely structured components include providing a projection objective having a mirror that is located within a predetermined proximity to a pupil surface of a projection objective. In one variant, an imag... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7773199 | Methods and systems to compensate for a stitching disturbance of a printed pattern A method and system are provided of using a patterning device. An exemplary method includes defining a first region on a surface, the first region being associated with a first element of the patterning device, defining a second region on the surface, the second reg... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7742150 | Manufacturing method of semiconductor device A manufacturing method of a semiconductor device including a liquid immersion movement exposure of interposing a liquid between an exposure target substrate and a projection optical system of an exposure apparatus, and carrying out an exposure processing with respec... | 06/22/2010 |
| 7728956 | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing multiple die designs on a substrate using a data buffer that stores pattern variation data A lithographic system and method are provided that allow for variations of a basic device design to be generated without substantially increasing the cost of the data path hardware. The lithographic apparatus includes an array of individually controllable elements, ... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7688426 | Method and apparatus for measurement of exit pupil transmittance A method and apparatus for determining the state of the lens transmittance of an optical projection system are described. A lens or imaging objective transmission is determined as a function of exit pupil transverse direction cosine (nx,ny) at multiple field points ... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7652751 | Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method A lithographic apparatus and method, in an embodiment for immersion lithography, are disclosed with a single stage in which leveling and exposure are performed simultaneously. ... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7649615 | Advanced exposure techniques for programmable lithography Advanced techniques for programmable photolithography provide enhanced resolution and can image features smaller than the single shutter intensity profile, i.e., sub-pixel resolution. Patterns are built up by multiple exposures with relative movement of the mask and... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7649614 | Method of characterization, method of characterizing a process operation, and device manufacturing method A system in which deformation of a substrate is monitored during processing of the substrate is described. In one embodiment, the distortion in the substrate is measured after each exposure and processing operation by comparing the position of a plurality of referen... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7633601 | Method and related operation system for immersion lithography To avoid the yield of wafers that undergo immersion lithography influencing by delay of post exposure baking (PEB), an operation system adjusts a speed of inputting the wafers to undergo immersion lithography according to a status of wafers that have finished exposu... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7630060 | Device manufacturing method, lithographic apparatus and device manufactured thereby A device manufacturing method is disclosed. The method includes patterning a beam of radiation, projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a plurality of outer target portions of a substrate in a sequence in which each subsequent outer target portion is spaced-... | 12/08/2009 |
| 7626684 | Lithographic projection apparatus and a device manufacturing method using such lithographic projection apparatus A lithographic projection apparatus is disclosed that includes a predictive system configured to predict changes in projection system aberrations with time with respect to measured aberration values, a modelling system configured to determine an application-specific... | 12/01/2009 |
| 7605907 | Method of forming a substrate for use in calibrating a metrology tool, calibration substrate and metrology tool calibration method The present invention provides a method for forming a substrate for use in calibrating a metrology tool in order to compensate for orientation-dependent variations within the metrology tool. ... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7583362 | Stray light feedback for dose control in semiconductor lithography systems A stray light feedback system and method for a lithography exposure tool. The stray light feedback helps control critical dimension (CD) within a stray light specification limit. A stray light dose control factor is calculated as a function of the stray light measur... | 09/01/2009 |
| 7525646 | Multiple pattern generator integration with single post expose bake station A system and method of operation for a lithographic system having multiple exposure stations sharing one or more post-expose bake station and a centralized control system that schedules work through the expose station to the post-expose bake station while taking int... | 04/28/2009 |
| 7495745 | Patterning method and computer readable medium therefor A patterning method performed by a direct patterning apparatus, and a computer readable medium for controlling a computer of the direct patterning apparatus to perform the pattering method. The patterning method forms a desired pattern on the surface of the object b... | 02/24/2009 |
| 7474386 | Wafer flatness evaluation method, wafer flatness evaluation apparatus carrying out the evaluation method, wafer manufacturing method using the evaluation method, wafer quality assurance method using the evaluation method, semiconductor device manufacturing method using the evaluation method and semiconductor device manufacturing method using a wafer evaluated by the evaluation method There is disclosed a wafer flatness evaluation method includes measuring front and rear surface shapes of a wafer. The wafer front surface measured is divided into sites. Then, a flatness calculating method is selected according to a position of the site to be evalu... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7468784 | Method and device for forming optical or magnetic memory media or a template for the same A method and device for forming an optical or magnetic memory medium or a template for making such memory media, including suspending an essentially flat substrate rotatably about an axis, arranging a particle beam source to expose the surface layer to a particle be... | 12/23/2008 |
| 7443482 | Liquid jet and recovery system for immersion lithography A liquid jet and recovery system for an immersion lithography apparatus has arrays of nozzles arranged to have their openings located proximal to an exposure region through which an image pattern is projected onto a workpiece such as a wafer. These nozzles are each ... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7443486 | Method for predicting a critical dimension of a feature imaged by a lithographic apparatus A lithographic apparatus includes an illuminator configured to condition a beam of radiation and a support configured to hold a patterning device. The patterning device is configured to pattern the beam of radiation according to a desired pattern. The lithographic a... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7440083 | Printing a mask with maximum possible process window through adjustment of the source distribution A lithographic mask is illuminated with light from different directions such that intensities of a plurality of incident beams of light provide a largest possible integrated process window defined in terms of an allowed range for defining shapes. Constrained sets of... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7440082 | Method of predicting and minimizing model OPC deviation due to mix/match of exposure tools using a calibrated eigen decomposition model A method for generating models for simulating the imaging performance of a plurality of exposure tools. The method includes the steps of: generating a calibrated model for a first exposure tool capable of estimating an image to be produced by the first exposure tool... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7438995 | Use of partially fluorinated polymers in applications requiring transparency in the ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet Disclosed are partially fluorinated and fully fluorinated polymers that are substantially transparent to ultraviolet radiation at wavelengths from approximately 150 nanometer to 260 nanometers. ... | 10/21/2008 |
