Dynamically adjustable high resolution adjustable slit
US6097474A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 8, 1999 |
| Grant date | Aug 1, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 8, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03F7/70558
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Blades pivotally attached together linked to push rods and inserted into an illumination field, energy or flux. The blades extend longitudinally along the length of a rectangular illumination field or slit used to image a reticle onto a photosensitive substrate. The blades controllably adjust the width of the rectangular illumination field to modify the illumination intensity or energy provided to a photosensitive substrate. The illumination field is scanned across the photosensitive substrate to expose it with the image of a reticle. The blades are dynamically controlled during the scanning exposure to adjust the illumination intensity or energy in a predetermined way. The resulting selective change in exposure dose corrects local area of line width variance. Various errors in pattern reproduction using a photolithographic system are relatively easily corrected. This is particularly advantageous in a scanning lithography system used in the manufacture of semiconductors.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.