A lithographic apparatus configured to project a patterned beam of radiation onto a target portion of a substrate is disclosed. The apparatus includes a first radiation dose detector and a second radiation dose detector, each detector comprising a secondary electron emission surface configured to receive a radiation flux and to emit secondary electrons due to the receipt of the radiation flux, the first radiation dose detector located upstream with respect to the second radiation dose detector viewed with respect to a direction of radiation transmission, and a meter, connected to each detector, to detect a current or voltage resulting from the secondary electron emission from the respective electron emission surface.

Lithographic apparatus, and device manufacturing method

Apparatus and method for increasing the sensitivity in the detection of optical coherence tomography and low coherence interferometry (“LCI”) signals by detecting a parallel set of spectral bands, each band being a unique combination of optical frequencies. The LCI broad bandwidth source is split into N spectral bands. The N spectral bands are individually detected and processed to provide an increase in the signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of N. Each spectral band is detected by a separate photo detector and amplified. For each spectral band the signal is band pass filtered around the signal band by analog electronics and digitized, or, alternatively, the signal may be digitized and band pass filtered in software. As a consequence, the shot noise contribution to the signal is reduced by a factor equal to the number of spectral bands. The signal remains the same. The reduction of the shot noise increases the dynamic range and sensitivity of the system.

Apparatus and method for ranging and noise reduction of low coherence interferometry LCI and optical coherence tomography OCT signals by parallel detection of spectral bands

An apparatus and method are provided. In particular, at least one first electro-magnetic radiation may be provided to a sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation can be provided to a non-reflective reference. A frequency of the first and/or second radiations varies over time. An interference is detected between at least one third radiation associated with the first radiation and at least one fourth radiation associated with the second radiation. Alternatively, the first electro-magnetic radiation and/or second electro-magnetic radiation have a spectrum which changes over time. The spectrum may contain multiple frequencies at a particular time. In addition, it is possible to detect the interference signal between the third radiation and the fourth radiation in a first polarization state. Further, it may be preferable to detect a further interference signal between the third and fourth radiations in a second polarization state which is different from the first polarization state. The first and/or second electro-magnetic radiations may have a spectrum whose mean frequency changes substantially continuously over time at a tuning speed that is greater than 100 Tera Hertz per millisecond.

Method and apparatus for performing optical imaging using frequency-domain interferometry

A system and method for imaging of a sample, e.g., biological sample, are provided. In particular, at least one source electro-magnetic radiation forwarded to the sample and a reference may be generated. A plurality of detectors may be used, at least one of the detectors capable of detecting a signal associated with a combination of at least one first electro-magnetic radiation received from the sample and at least one second electro-magnetic radiation received from the reference. At least one particular detector may have a particular electrical integration time, and can receive at least a portion of the signal for a time duration which has a first portion with a first power level greater than a predetermined threshold and a second portion immediately preceding or following the first portion. The second portion may have a second power level that is less than the predetermined threshold, and extends for a time period which may be, e.g., approximately more than 10% of the particular electrical integration time.

System and method for optical coherence imaging

A method of fabricating a semiconductor structure including the steps of providing a silicon substrate (10) having a surface (12), forming on the surface (12) of the silicon substrate (10), by atomic layer deposition (ALD), a seed layer (20;20') characterised by a silicate material and forming, by atomic layer deposition (ALD) one or more layers of a high dielectric constant oxide (40) on the seed layer (20;20').

Method for fabricating a semiconductor structure including a metal oxide interface with silicon

An optical element comprises a polarization diffraction element that is provided with diffraction gratings that are respectively mounted on different faces of a transparent substrate of a flat plate shape, which grating pitches are equal to each other and approximately equal to the wavelength of an incident light, and which grating lines are parallel. The thickness of the substrate is set such that the difference that occurs between the phases of the P and S polarizations of a light due to the grating, and the difference that occurs between the phases of the two polarizations when the light propagates through the substrate cancel out. The optical pickup device comprising the optical element includes a polarized light detecting unit provided with a diffraction grating which grating pitch is approximately equal to the wavelength of an incident light; a first photodetector that is mounted integrally and virtually in parallel with the substrate, and that receives a zero-order diffracted light produced by the diffraction grating; and a second photodetector that is located in the same plane as the first photodetector and mounted integrally with the first photodetector and the substrate, and that receives a first-order diffracted light produced by the diffraction grating.

Optical element and optical pickup device comprising it

An optical information reproducing apparatus of the invention includes a light emitting and receiving unit and an optical system. The optical system converges light from the light emitting and receiving unit on a recording medium and converges the light after reflected by the recording medium. The light emitting and receiving unit includes: a semiconductor laser device disposed on a substrate for generating light; a photo detector formed, integrally with the substrate, on the substrate on which the semiconductor laser device is disposed, for outputting a signal corresponding to the intensity of light incident thereon; and a beam splitter provided on an optical axis of the reflected light, the beam splitter leading part of the reflected light to the photo detector.

Optical information reproducing apparatus

An optical integrated circuit (21) is disclosed. The optical integrated circuit (21) includes: a dielectric waveguide (23) having at least a waveguide layer (4) for transmitting light in a first direction (8); a first reflector (14) for reflecting the light in a substantially opposite direction (13) to the first direction (8), the first reflector (14) being formed on an end face of the waveguide layer (4); a grating coupler (6) having a grating for diffracting at least a part of the light in a second direction (10) which is different from the first direction (8), the grating coupler (6) being formed at a surface (18) of the waveguide layer (4); and a light detector (22) for detecting the diffraction light (10, 11, 15, 16), the light detector (22) being optically connected with the dielectric waveguide (23).

An optical integrated circuit having light detector

A display apparatus of the invention includes: a plurality of display devices arranged in one direction, each of the plurality of display devices having a display area; and a plurality of image transmission means corresponding to the respective display devices, one end face of each of the image transmission means being coupled to a display area of the corresponding one of the display devices, other end faces of the image transmission means corresponding to the adjacent ones of the display devices being in contact with each other, the plurality of image transmission means being bent toward the one direction in which the display devices are arranged. Alternatively, a display apparatus of the invention includes: a plurality of display devices disposed in two directions, each of the plurality of display devices having a display area; a plurality of image transmission means corresponding to the respective display devices, one end face of each of the image transmission means being coupled to a display area of the corresponding one of the display devices, other end faces of the image transmission means corresponding to the adjacent ones of the display devices being in contact with each other, some of the plurality of image transmission means each having inward facing slopes and outward facing slopes on two pairs of opposing faces, the outward facing slopes of the image transmission means being directed to a direction in which the corresponding display device has no adjacent display devices.

Display apparatus having a plurality of display devices

An optical pickup apparatus comprising a diffraction device in which a laser beam from a light source is diffracted by the diffraction device to produce a main beam and two sub-beams which are focused on a recording medium, the beams reflected from the recording medium are diffracted by the diffraction device to be directed to at least one photodetector, whereby a tracking error signal can be detected from output signals of the photodetector by the three-spot method that is so highly reliable that an offset never arises in the tracking error signal even when the optical axis of the optical system is displaced from a given position.

Yoshio Yoshida

Papers

Optical element and optical pickup device comprising it

Optical information reproducing apparatus

An optical integrated circuit having light detector

Display apparatus having a plurality of display devices

Optical pickup apparatus utilizing a diffraction device