1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method.
2. Background Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate or part of a substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of flat panel displays, integrated circuits (ICs) and other devices involving fine structures. In a conventional apparatus, a patterning device, which can be referred to as a mask or a reticle, can be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of a flat panel display (or other device). This pattern can be transferred onto all or part of the substrate (e.g., a glass plate), by imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (e.g., resist) provided on the substrate.
Instead of a circuit pattern, the patterning device can be used to generate other patterns, for example a color filter pattern or a matrix of dots. Instead of a mask, the patterning device can be a patterning array that comprises an array of individually controllable elements. The pattern can be changed more quickly and for less cost in such a system compared to a mask-based system.
A flat panel display substrate is typically rectangular in shape. Lithographic apparatus designed to expose a substrate of this type can provide an exposure region that covers a full width of the rectangular substrate, or covers a portion of the width (for example half of the width). The substrate can be scanned underneath the exposure region, while the mask or reticle is synchronously scanned through a beam. In this way, the pattern is transferred to the substrate. If the exposure region covers the full width of the substrate then exposure can be completed with a single scan. If the exposure region covers, for example, half of the width of the substrate, then the substrate can be moved transversely after the first scan, and a further scan is typically performed to expose the remainder of the substrate.
The lithographic apparatus includes a projection system that is used to project an image of the patterning array onto the substrate. A problem that can arise is unevenness of the substrate. Part of the image can be focused in a plane that is above or below the upper surface of the substrate. It is generally not possible to entirely resolve this problem by adjusting the position of the substrate. This is because moving the substrate such that the image is correctly focused on one part of the substrate is likely to cause the image to be out of focus on a different part of the substrate.
Therefore, what is needed is an effective system to overcome the aforementioned unevenness problems.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds