(12) (10) Patent N0.: US 6,842,223 B2 Tyminski (45) Date of Patent: Jan. 11, 2005 (54) ENHANCED ILLUMINATOR FOR USE IN 6,233,039 B1 5/2001 Yen et al. ................... .. 355/53 PHOTOLITHOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS 6,452,662 B2 9/2002 Mulkens et al. ............ .. 355/67 6,455,862 B1 9/2002 Van der Veen et al. .. 250/492.2 (75) Inventor: Jacek K. Tyminski, Mountain VieW, 6,466,304 B1 10/2002 Smith ........................ .. 355/71 CA (US) 6,704,092 B2 * 3/2004 Shiraishi ..... .. 355/53 2002/0177048 A1 * 11/2002 Saitoh et al. ................ .. 430/5 (73) Assignee: Nikon Precision Inc., Belmont, CA (US) * cited by examiner ( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 primer Exam1~ne,,_D_ Rutled 6 Y g USC" 154(b) by 0 days" (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Ritter, Lang & Kaplan LLP (21) Appl. NO.Z 10/412,380 (57) ABSTRACT (22) Filed: Apr. 11, 2003 Methods and apparatus for enabling both isolated and dense , , , tterns to be accurately patterned onto a Wafer are dis(65) Prior Publication Data 5121056 d Accordin . . . g to one aspect of the present invention, an US 2004/0201831 A1 Oct. 14, 2004 illumination system that is suitable for use as a part of a (51) rm. cl.’ .............................................. .. G03B 27/42 P‘F’1°["‘°“ ‘°t"1 1“‘.i_1[1‘d‘?1S1a“.‘11‘i“““a“‘[“ S°;“°° andtan 111.“; (52) U.s. Cl. ........................... .. 355/53; 355/67; 355/71; mm °r ape‘ um" 6 1 um?“ °r ape‘ “re as a Ce“ “P01” _ _ and an outer edge, and also includes a first pole and a second 250/492.2, 425/130, 430/5 . . , pole. The first pole is defined substantially about the center (58) Field of Search ............................ .. 355/53, 67, 71; . . . 250/492.2 430/5_ 425/130 point, and the second pole is defined substantially betWeen ’ ’ the first pole and the outer edge of the first pole. The (56) References Cited illumination source is arranged to provide a beam to the
25 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
