Patent · US Expired

Illumination device for projection system and method for fabricating

US6791667B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
11References
24Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMar 8, 2002
Grant dateSep 14, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 10, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG03F1/26
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A masking aperture for a photomask illumination system provides controlled on-axis and off-axis illumination. The masking aperture has a dithered pattern of pixels. The intensity of the pattern controls the illumination of the photomask. The masking aperture pattern defines one or more zones of illumination. Zones comprise elements that are patterned in accordance with a selected wavelength of incident light to diffract the incident light into an illumination pattern for illuminating a photomask. Each of the elements is constructed with a matrix of pixels. In the preferred embodiment the array of pixels is 8×8. The number of elements is generally greater than 3×3.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.