An immersion projection optical system having, for example, a catadioptric and off-axis structure, reduces the portion of an image space filled with liquid (immersion liquid). The projection optical system, which projects a reduced image of a first plane onto a second plane through the liquid, includes a refractive optical element (Lp) arranged nearest to the second plane. The refractive optical element includes a light emitting surface (Lpb) shaped to be substantially symmetric with respect to two axial directions (XY-axes) perpendicular to each other on the second plane. The light emitting surface has a central axis (Lpba) that substantially coincides with a central axis (40a) of a circle (40) corresponding to a circumference of a light entering surface (Lpa) of the refractive optical element. The central axis of the light emitting surface is decentered in one of the two axial directions (Y-axis) from an optical axis (AX).

Projection optical system, exposure apparatus and exposure method

There is disclosed a polarization-modulating element for modulating a polarization state of incident light into a predetermined polarization state, the polarization-modulating element being made of an optical material with optical activity and having a circumferentially varying thickness profile.

Polarization-modulating element, illumination optical apparatus, exposure apparatus, and exposure method

An illumination optical apparatus guides exposure light emitted from an exposure light source, to an illumination target object. The illumination optical apparatus has a plurality of spatial light modulation members arranged in an array form, and each spatial light modulation member is so configured that a plurality of reflecting optical elements each including a movable reflecting surface are arranged in an array form. At least one of the spatial light modulation members is arranged in an optical path of the light emitted from the light source.

Illumination optical apparatus, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

An illumination optical apparatus and projection exposure apparatus capable of reducing a light quantity loss when a mask is illuminated with a polarized illumination light. An illumination optical system for illuminating a reticle with an illumination light and a projection optical system for projecting the pattern image of the reticle onto a wafer are provided. An illumination light emitted from an exposure light source in a linearly polarized state in the illumination optical system passes through first and second birefringent members having different fast axis directions and is converted into a polarized state that is substantially linearly polarized in a circumferential direction with the optical axis as the center in an almost specific annular area, and them illuminates the reticle under an annular illuminating condition after passing through a fly-eye lens.

Illumination optical apparatus and projection exposure apparatus

An illumination optical apparatus has an optical unit. The optical unit has a light splitter to split an incident beam into two beams; a first spatial light modulator which can be arranged in an optical path of a first beam; a second spatial light modulator which can be arranged in an optical path of a second beam; and a light combiner which combines a beam having passed via the first spatial light modulator, with a beam having passed via the second spatial light modulator; each of the first spatial light modulator and the second spatial light modulator has a plurality of optical elements arranged two-dimensionally and controlled individually.

Optical unit, illumination optical apparatus, exposure apparatus, and device manufacturing method

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a static-pressure gas bearing usable in vacuum and capable of preventing the connection of an exhaust piping from having a bad effect on the operation of a bearing mechanism by connecting an exhaust internal piping within a lower shaft fixing body to an exhaust internal piping within an upper shaft fixing body on a lower shaft moving body. SOLUTION: A floating gas supplied from the feed pipe of a lower shaft fixing body 4 is supplied to an air pad 7 through a feed internal piping 5 and an air pipe 6 to float a lower shaft moving body 1. It is discharged out of a vacuum chamber through an exhaust groove 8, an exhaust hole 20 and an exhaust internal piping 9. The air pipe 6 is branched in the middle to partly supply the floating gas to the air pad 17 of an upper shaft through a feed connection groove 13, a feed connection piping 14 and an air pipe 19, and the resulting gas is then discharged out of the vacuum chamber through an exhaust groove 16, an exhaust internal piping 18, an exhaust connection piping 12 and the exhaust internal piping 9. Accordingly, the floating gas is never run into the vacuum chamber in both the upper and lower shafts to allow the use in vacuum, and the exhaust piping connection to a moving part can be eliminated, so that the bearing performance such as straight advancing property is never affected.

Static pressure gas bearing

In a hydrostatic gas bearing for use in a vacuum, in order to provide a hydrostatic gas bearing in which an increase in the quantity of gas being discharged during the movement of a moving body is reduced, the surface of a guide shaft of a fixed body and/or the surface of the moving body is subjected to processing for reducing adhesion of gas molecules, for example, by coating the surface(s) with a material having a low adhesion probability of gas molecules, by which the quantity of gas being discharged is decreased.

Hydrostatic gas bearing, hydrostatic gas bearing device for use in vacuum environment, and gas recovering method for the hydrostatic gas bearing device

A new system that measures stress in film deposited on Si wafers has been developed to produce highly accurate X-ray masks. The system consists of very rigid air sliders, an electrostatic sensor, and a soft-handling wafer chuck. With the system, wafer warp is precisely measured before and after film deposition, and the stress distribution is calculated from those measurements. Wafer warps can be measured with a repeatability of a few nanometers by this system. The stress distribution of absorber film on 2-mm-thick Si wafers can be determined with an accuracy of ±5 MPa. The stress distribution agrees well with the pattern position shifts in the membrane.

A Highly Accurate Stress Measurement System for Producing Precise X-Ray Masks

To provide a method of manufacturing a solid oxide fuel cell, capable of obtaining a uniform film thickness. The present invention is a method of manufacturing fuel cells (16), including a support body-forming step (S1) for forming a porous support body (97), a film deposition step for laminating functional layers constituting electricity generating elements on a support body; and a sintering step (S14, S16) for sintering the support body on which functional layers are formed; whereby the film deposition step includes surface deposition steps (S5, S11), in which a masking layer is formed in parts not requiring film deposition, and electricity generating elements first functional layers are simultaneously formed, and a dot deposition step (S15), in which slurry dots are formed by placing a slurry into a liquid droplet state and jetting it, and a second functional layer is formed by the agglomeration of these dots.

Solid oxide fuel cell manufacturing method and dispenser apparatus for manufacturing same

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small and light static pressure gas bearing even if it has a driving mechanism in it. SOLUTION: An air pad is provided for a sliding surface formed out of a guide shaft and a traveling body, and a static pressure gas bearing which permits the traveling body to be slidable by supplying gas from the air pad is mounted on a surface plate. A plurality of band-shaped electrodes are fitted on the surface of the traveling body and the surface of a section facing the traveling body, and multi-phase AC voltage is applied to between the respective band-shaped electrodes, thus it is possible to generate driving power at the traveling body. COPYRIGHT: (C)2001,JPO

Shinji Shinohara

Papers

Static pressure gas bearing

Hydrostatic gas bearing, hydrostatic gas bearing device for use in vacuum environment, and gas recovering method for the hydrostatic gas bearing device

A Highly Accurate Stress Measurement System for Producing Precise X-Ray Masks

Solid oxide fuel cell manufacturing method and dispenser apparatus for manufacturing same

Static pressure gas bearing unit