EP1697797A2

EP1697797A2 - Polarization optically effective delay system for a microlithographic projection illumination device

Info

Publication number: EP1697797A2
Application number: EP04797770A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michael Totzeck; Birgit Enkisch; Karl-Heinz Schuster
Original assignee: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
Current assignee: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
Priority date: 2003-11-26
Filing date: 2004-11-10
Publication date: 2006-09-06
Also published as: WO2005059653A3; WO2005059653A2; US20040184019A1; KR20060118517A; US20060152701A1; US7411656B2; US7053988B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a delay system for converting an input beam cluster incident from an input side of the delay system to an output beam cluster which has a spatial distribution of polarization states across its cross-section that can be influenced by the delay system, said distribution differing from the spatial distribution of polarization states of the input beam cluster. The inventive delay system is configured as a reflecting delay system. An effective cross-section of the delay system has a plurality of delay areas of different delay effect. A mirror system of this type having a delay effect that varies depending on the location can be used to compensate for undesired variations of the polarization state across the cross-section of an input beam cluster and/or for adjusting certain initial polarization states, e.g. for adjusting radial or tangential polarization.

Description

description

Polarization-optically effective delay arrangement and microlithography projection exposure system with it

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a delay arrangement for converting an input radiation bundle impinging from an input side of the delay arrangement into an output radiation bundle, which cross section has a spatial distribution of polarization states which can be influenced by the delay arrangement and which differs from the spatial distribution of polarization states of the input radiation bundle, as well as a microlithography projection exposure system with at least one such delay arrangement.

Description of the Related Art To increase the imaging performance of projection exposure systems for microlithography, it is often advantageous to specifically set polarization states within the illumination system and / or with the projection lens. For example, a polarization state provided by the radiation from the primary light source may change in an undesired and difficult to control manner when it passes through the projection exposure system. For example, intrinsic birefringence (IDB) or stress birefringence (SDB) in calcium fluoride (CaF ₂ ) and other materials that can be used for transparent optical components in the deep ultraviolet range (DUV) can contribute to this. Likewise, anti-reflective coatings and reflective coatings (mirror layers) can adversely change the polarization state of the radiation, so that, for example, a linear polarization state at the entrance of the lighting system is converted into an undefined elliptical polarization state at the exit of the projection objective. Since the polarization-optical effect of the components is generally not the same everywhere, the initial polarization state is generally also not constant over the cross section of the radiation beam. Generic delay arrangements can help compensate for such effects.

The polarization state of the radiation used for image generation is often specifically influenced in order to improve the imaging quality. For this purpose generic delay arrangements can be used in the lighting system and / or in the projection lens.

DE 195 35 392 (corresponding to EP 0 764 858 B1) discloses a generic delay arrangement which is intended for use in the lighting system of a projection exposure system working in the deep ultraviolet range and which produces an output radiation beam which is essentially radial over its entire cross section Direction contains polarized radiation. The radial polarization is well suited for lenses with a typical image-side numerical aperture (NA) of approx. 0.5 <NA <0.7 and photoresist without anti-reflective coating in order to optimize the coupling efficiency into the resist material. Tangential polarization, in which the local preferred polarization direction is essentially perpendicular to the radial direction of the beam, is often preferred for optimizing the two-beam interference at highly numerical apertures, and can also be adjusted by suitable delay arrangements. An embodiment effective in transmission for converting linearly polarized input radiation into radially polarized output radiation has a multiplicity of hexagonal half-wave plates made of birefringent material, the main crystallographic axes of which are oriented perpendicular to the direction of incidence of the input radiation, such that each half-wave plate changes the polarization direction of the locally incident radiation into Direction of a cutting through the half-wave plate, directed towards the optical axis of the delay arrangement deflected.

DE 101 24 803 (corresponding to US 2002/0176166 A1) discloses a delay arrangement which is intended for comparable purposes and is effective in transmission and in one embodiment consists of a transparent plate made of birefringent material, on the inlet side and outlet side of which small areas with deflecting areas Structures in the form of grids or refractive structures are present. The main crystallographic axis of the birefringent plate material is aligned parallel to the optical axis of the delay arrangement and thus essentially parallel to the direction of incidence of the input radiation beam. The deflecting structures create an oblique passage of radiation through the plate material. By locally varying the setting of suitable angles of inclination between the direction of passage and the main crystallographic axis as well as suitable directions of inclination and plate thicknesses, e.g. from incoming circularly or linearly polarized light, output radiation beams with cylindrical symmetrical polarization distribution (tangential or radial) are generated.

The not yet published German patent application DE 103 24 468.9 from the applicant describes microlithographic projection exposure systems in which transparent delay elements are used to set a desired polarization state of the radiation. Det have the form birefringent lattice structures, the arrangement of which varies locally over their useful cross-section.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a delay arrangement of the type mentioned at the outset, the use of which permits a particularly favorable construction of the optical systems equipped with it. It is another object to provide delay arrangements that can be used in extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) lithography systems.

To achieve these and other objects, the invention provides, according to one formulation, a delay arrangement for converting an input radiation bundle impinging on an input side of the delay arrangement into an output radiation bundle, which cross-section has a spatial distribution of polarization states which can be influenced by the delay arrangement and which differs from the spatial distribution differs from polarization states of the input radiation beam, the delay arrangement being designed as a reflective delay arrangement and a useful cross section of the delay arrangement having a plurality of delay areas with different delay effects.

Such a mirror arrangement with a location-dependent delay effect can be used, for example, to compensate for undesirable fluctuations in the polarization state over the cross section of an input radiation beam in order to generate an output radiation beam with a largely uniform polarization over its cross section. It can also be used to local different polarities in the individual delay areas. Set states to generate, for example, an output radiation beam with radial polarization or tangential polarization. A combination of polarization compensation and targeted setting of a location-dependent varying polarization state distribution of the output radiation is also possible.

The design as a reflective delay arrangement makes it possible to construct optical systems with folded beam paths, in which the intervention in the polarization state of the radiation takes place in the area of the folding. Embodiments for substantially perpendicular radiation incidence, in which the direction of the input beam is essentially opposite to the direction of the output beam, are also possible, as are delay arrangements for non-perpendicular incidence, in which the input beam and the output beam are at an angle to one another obliquely to an optical axis of the Delay order run.

Reflective delay arrangements can, for example, contribute to the solution of installation space problems in the manner of deflection mirrors and enable alternative production methods. Concave mirror arrangements with a spatially resolving varying delay effect for catadioptric projection lenses or other imaging systems are also possible.

According to a development, the delay arrangement comprises at least one transparent birefringent transmission element and a mirror with a mirror surface which is arranged on a side of the transmission element opposite the entry side of the delay arrangement in such a way that the input radiation after a first passage through the transmission element for a second passage is reflected back by the transmission element. The birefringent transmission element can thus be single passage are used, so that in comparison to a single passage higher delays, ie larger path differences of the perpendicularly polarized field components of the radiation can be achieved.

The mirror surface can be arranged directly on an outlet side of the transmission element opposite the entry side of the delay arrangement, so that the delay arrangement can be constructed in the manner of a rear surface mirror. There are also embodiments in which there is a distance between an exit surface of the transmission element and the mirror surface. An intermediate space between the transmission element and the mirror surface can be material-free or at least partially filled with a transparent material, for example in order to reduce the angle of incidence and / or to compensate for phase errors. The mirror surface and / or the transmission element can be flat or curved, e.g. curved concavely.

In order to ensure that the polarization-changing properties of the delay arrangement are largely or exclusively determined by the properties of the birefringent transmission element, the reflection properties of the mirror surface should be designed such that the reflectance and, if appropriate, a phase-retarding effect for radiation polarized perpendicularly and parallel to an incidence plane in the are essentially the same. If the mirror itself has a retarding effect on the reflected radiation, care should be taken when designing the birefringent transmission element that its retarding properties are adapted to the retarding effect of the mirror in order to achieve the overall desired, location-dependent varying retarding effect. There are various options within the scope of the invention for realizing a birefringent transmission element. In particular, volume polarization effects, such as birefringence of uniaxial and biaxial crystals, intrinsic birefringence (IDB) and / or stress birefringence (SDB) induced by mechanical stresses can be used to generate phase delays.

In one embodiment, the birefringent transmission element comprises a multiplicity of delay elements made of transparent birefringent material arranged next to one another, each of the delay elements having an axial thickness (measured parallel to the optical axis of the delay arrangement) and a crystallographic main axis lying at a specific angle of inclination with respect to a transmission direction, wherein the axial thickness and the angle of inclination are designed to generate a predeterminable path difference between perpendicularly aligned field components of the radiation when they pass twice through the delay element.

A variant is characterized in that the crystallographic main axes of the delay elements are aligned in different directions perpendicular to the optical axis of the delay arrangement. For embodiments which are designed for essentially perpendicular radiation (radiation incident essentially parallel to the optical axis of the delay arrangement), the birefringent transmission element can be constructed essentially as shown in DE 195 35 292. The disclosure content of DE 195 35 292 is made by reference to the content of this description. However, since a double passage of the radiation through the transparent birefringent material occurs in reflective delay arrangements of the type described here, the axial thickness of the delay elements can be compared to the embodiment shown there. shapes reduced, for example halved. Higher-order delay arrangements (for example with phase delays of more than one working wavelength) are also possible and can be correspondingly thicker.

In another embodiment, at least one birefringent transmission element is provided which has a crystallographic main axis and an axial thickness, the useful cross section, i.e. the illuminated cross section of the delay arrangement is divided into a number of delay areas. At least one of the delay areas is designed such that the direction of passage of the radiation through the birefringent transmission element in the delay area is so oblique to the direction of the crystallographic main axis of the delay area that the direction of passage with the crystallographic main axis has an inclination angle of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° includes. The direction of passage and the direction of the crystallographic main axis span a passage plane. For the at least one deceleration area, the axial thickness and the angle of inclination are matched to one another in such a way that an optical path length difference of the field components in the deceleration area corresponds to a predetermined path difference after double passage through the deceleration element and the orientation of the passage plane is set for each deceleration area so that the results in the local preferred polarization direction for the delay range. Each of the delay areas is preferably designed in this way.

The delay arrangement acts like a delay plate in each of its delay areas irradiated obliquely, in which the path difference G according to G = W x | n _a0 - n ₀ | from the product of the path length W traversed in the direction of passage between entry and exit and the amount of the difference in the refractive indices n _G and n _ao for the two perpendicular to one another polarized field components (ordinary beam and extraordinary beam) results. This difference is therefore dependent on the orientation of the refractive index ellipsoid. The refractive index difference of the field components, which also determines the path difference, depends on the inclination angle NW and on the type of birefringent material and can be adjusted by selecting the inclination angle. If the beam is reflected in itself, there is essentially twice the path difference in the double passage.

If, for example, a small angle of inclination to the main crystallographic axis is set, the refractive index difference which disappears in the direction of the main crystallographic axis is relatively small, so that the axial thickness can be chosen to be large enough to achieve a desired path difference. This simplifies the manufacture and handling of delay arrangements according to the invention, which can optionally be designed as self-supporting components. The mode of operation of the delay arrangement can be adapted to the polarization state of the incident radiation and the desired polarization distribution of the output radiation via the choice of the axial thickness. If, for example, a path difference (in double passage) of a quarter of the light wavelength (or an odd multiple thereof) is set, circularly polarized radiation entering each of the delay areas can be converted into outgoing linearly polarized radiation. For each delay area, the orientation of the preferred polarization direction in the exit plane lying on the entry side of the delay arrangement can be set via the inclination direction, for example in the tangential or radial direction to the optical axis of the delay arrangement. If a half-wave path difference (or an odd multiple thereof) is set after double passage, a local rotation from incident linearly polarized radiation into emerging linearly polarized radiation is possible. This can be done by suitable local adjustment of the direction of inclination in the Delay areas, for example, be aligned radially or tangentially to the optical axis in each delay area. Linear polarization which is essentially uniformly aligned over the entire useful cross section is also possible. It should be noted that there is generally an angular dependence of the deceleration effect.

An advantageous further development is characterized in that a birefringent transmission element is provided with a crystallographic main axis aligned essentially parallel to the optical axis of the delay arrangement, and in that the birefringent transmission element is assigned at least one deflecting structure for each delay area, which deflects the incident radiation in such a way that this penetrates the deceleration range with the inclination angle and the direction of inclination provided for the deceleration range. With a single birefringent transmission element that fills the cross section of the delay arrangement, a delay arrangement with a simple structure is thus possible that is particularly easy to manufacture.

In order to enable radiation to exit parallel to the radiation entrance, deflecting structures are preferably provided on an input side of the birefringent transmission element for deflecting the incident radiation in the oblique direction of passage, and deflecting structures assigned on the exit side are provided for reversing the deflection. For example, the birefringent transmission element can be formed by a plane-parallel plate made of magnesium fluoride or quartz crystal, on the inlet side and / or outlet side of which the deflecting structures are produced in the form of correspondingly structured surface areas. In this way, a delay arrangement constructed with a single optically effective transmission element is possible, which essentially has the shape of a thin plate and is therefore installed at a suitable location within a projection exposure system even with limited installation space can be, for example in the range of small beam angles close to or in a pupil plane.

The deflecting structures of each delay area serve to deflect the radiation incident in the delay area into the direction of passage provided for this delay area or to reverse this deflection. This can be a diffractive structure, for example in the manner of a linear grating, a refractive structure, for example in the manner of a Fresnel surface, or a structure in which both light diffraction and refraction contribute to the deflection, for example after Kind of a blazed grid. Holographic structures are also possible.

The assigned mirror layer can be arranged at a distance behind the exit side of the transmission element, e.g. on a separate mirror. It can also be attached directly to the exit side of the transmission element, e.g. in the form of a thin reflective coating.

It is expedient to divide the illuminated usable cross section into small fields or areas of constant deflection, for example into small hexagon areas, which fill the entire illuminated cross section of the delay arrangement more or less completely. Other, preferably polygonal, area shapes, for example squares or triangles, are also possible. Delay areas can also be designed in the form of a ring or a segment of a ring or a segment of a circle. The number of areas or fields is preferably of the order of 10 or 100 or more, so that the areas preferably have typical average cross-sectional areas of less than 10%, in particular between 10% and 1% of the total area of the useful cross section. The size of the areas can be adapted to the directional tolerance of the locally desired preferred polarization direction that is permissible for the application. In preferred embodiments, this is in Range of ± 2% or below. An almost continuous distribution of the desired local radial or tangential polarization can be achieved by smaller area sizes. A continuous transition of the structures without defined area boundaries is also possible. It is also possible that small gaps remain between the effective delay areas, which are particularly tolerable when using the delay arrangement in the lighting system.

In embodiments of delay arrangements according to the invention which are provided for oblique radiation incidence, care should be taken to ensure that the axial thickness of the birefringent transmission element and the lateral extent of the delay areas are adapted to the angle of incidence of the input radiation in such a way that a predominant proportion of the radiation entering a delay area also emerges from the same delay area and shines through non-adjacent delay areas. In this way, disturbances in the border areas to neighboring deceleration areas in the case of oblique incidence can be reduced or avoided. For this purpose, it is advantageous if a lateral expansion of the delay elements is large compared to the axial thickness of the birefringent transmission element. The ratio between the lateral extent and the axial thickness of the delay elements can be, for example, more than 50 or more than 100 or more than 1,000 or more than 10,000.

Another class of delay arrangements according to the invention is characterized in that in the cross section of the delay arrangement several birefringent transmission elements are preferably arranged to fill the surface, the crystallographic main axis of each of the birefringent transmission elements being tilted obliquely with respect to the optical axis of the delay arrangement in such a way that for the range of the desired ones Inclination angle and the direction of inclination results. So these are multi-part, segmented delay arrangements, the structure of which can be similar to that of the embodiments shown in FIG. 1 of DE 195 35 392, but with the difference that in the delay arrangements considered here the crystallographic main axes of the delay areas are inclined to the optical axis of the delay arrangement and Plate level are aligned.

In another embodiment, the delay arrangement has a substrate (carrier) and a reflection coating arranged on the substrate, the reflection coating having a locally varying, polarization-changing reflection effect to form delay areas with different delay effects. Such a reflection coating with polarization-changing properties that vary depending on the location can be applied, for example, directly to a front side of the substrate facing the entry side of the delay arrangement (front surface mirror).

In one embodiment, the reflection coating is designed as an anisotropic reflection coating with a local variation in the anisotropy of the reflection coating. The variation of the anisotropy can influence the direction and / or the absolute amount of a phase splitting of the incident radiation generated by the coating.

The anisotropic reflection coating can be designed in the manner of a dielectrically reinforced metal mirror. In one embodiment, a metal layer is applied to the carrier, on which an anisotropic dielectric layer made of at least one transparent dielectric material with one or more individual layers is applied. Anisotropic dielectric multilayer reflective coatings without a metal layer are also possible.

The local distribution of the delay effect can be designed in such a way that an effective birefringence distribution (delay distribution distribution), which is essentially rotationally symmetrical to the optical axis of the delay arrangement. An effective birefringence distribution can also be set which has birefringence increasing or decreasing in the radial direction. In some cases, for example to compensate for polarization effects caused by intrinsic birefringence of fluoride crystals, it can be advantageous if the birefringence distribution is not rotationally symmetrical. For example, an azimuthal modulation of the strength of the birefringence can be provided, which preferably has a multiple symmetry with respect to the optical axis of the delay arrangement, in particular a 2-fold, 3-fold, 4-fold or 6-fold symmetry. In this case, the deceleration areas can be designed in the manner of circular segments of corresponding angular extent. The delay areas can also be arranged next to one another in the manner of neighboring cells with a polygonal shape (for example hexagonal, triangular, rectangular) with intermediate gaps or to fill the area.

To produce anisotropic dielectric layers, the coating material can be applied to at least one area of the substrate surface at a large coverage angle, for example by vapor deposition at large vapor deposition angles of 40 ° or more. Masking techniques with shading screens can be used in the coating to generate suitably dimensioned and shaped delay areas.

A preferred field of application of the invention is projection exposure systems for microlithography, in which electromagnetic radiation from the ultraviolet range is used in particular with wavelengths of less than 260 nm (for example 248 nm, 193 nm or 157 nm). The embodiments described so far are particularly suitable for this wavelength, since transparent materials are used both for the production of birefringent transmission elements. elements as well as for the production of dielectric interference layers are available. However, the invention is not limited to these wavelengths, but can also be used with radiation from the extreme ultraviolet range (EUV), radiation, for example, with a wavelength of approximately 13 nm being used in purely reflective projection systems for microlithography.

In one embodiment, the delay arrangement has a substrate and a reflection coating, which is attached to the substrate and is effective for radiation from the extreme ultraviolet range (EUV) and which has a locally different polarization-modified reflection effect in order to form delay regions with different delay effects. The reflection coating can be designed as a multi-layer reflection coating with layers of suitable materials (for example molybdenum and silicon) lying on top of one another.

The multilayer reflective coating can be constructed near the mirror substrate like a conventional EUV multilayer mirror. To generate a polarization-dependent phase transmission, a grating arrangement of narrow structures spaced apart from one another can be provided on this layer arrangement, which structures are also constructed in multiple layers and continue, for example, the layer sequence of the underlying mirror. The grating structure can be periodic, at least in some areas, with a period length which is in the order of magnitude of the radiation wavelength, but is preferably less than the radiation wavelength (sub-λ structures). A birefringence effect similar to the structure-induced birefringence (shape birefringence) known from transparent optical components can thereby be generated. The arrangement of the diffractive structure elements, ie in particular their alignment, their periodicity spacing and / or the structure depth, can vary locally to form delay areas with different delay effects. The shape birefringence used here is a property that is essentially due to an inhomogeneous material distribution in the diffractive structures and is particularly pronounced when the spacing of the structural elements is smaller than the wavelength of the incident radiation. With sufficiently small grating structures, for example, only the zeroth diffraction order can be propagated (zero order grating). The distance from structural elements is therefore preferably less than 90% or 80% or 70% of the working wavelength.

Reflective delay arrangements according to the invention can be used to advantage in many optical systems. Use in an illumination system and / or in a projection objective of a microlithography projection exposure system is preferred.

The above and further features emerge from the claims and also from the description and from the drawings, the individual features being realized individually and in groups in the form of subcombinations in one embodiment of the invention and in other areas, and being advantageous and protectable embodiments can be represented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

1 is a schematic illustration of a microlithography projection exposure system designed as a wafer stepper, which comprises a catadioptric projection objective with geometric beam splitting according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic detailed view of the catadioptric lens part of the projection lens shown in Fig. 1; 3 is a schematic detailed view of an embodiment of a reflective delay arrangement;

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the delay arrangement of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a schematic detailed view of another embodiment of a reflective delay arrangement;

6 is a schematic illustration of a catadioptric projection lens with physical beam splitting (polarization beam splitting) according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic section of a deflection mirror of the projection objective in FIG. 7, which acts as a delay arrangement;

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of the delay arrangement shown in FIG. 7;

9 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a front surface mirror with anisotropic reflective coating;

10 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of a front surface mirror with anisotropic reflective coating;

11 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of an illumination system of a DUV microlithography projection exposure system with an embodiment of a reflective delay arrangement; 12 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of an EUV projection lens with a reflective delay arrangement; and

Fig. 13 is a schematic illustration of a reflective delay arrangement designed for extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

1 schematically shows a microlithography projection confessional system in the form of a wafer stepper 1, which is provided for the production of highly integrated semiconductor components. As a light source, the projection exposure system comprises an excimer laser 2, which emits ultraviolet light with a working wavelength λ of 157 nm, which in other embodiments can also be higher, for example 193 nm or 248 nm, or lower. A downstream lighting system 4 generates a large, sharply delimited and homogeneously illuminated image field which is adapted to the telecentricity requirements of the downstream projection lens 5. The lighting system has devices for selecting the lighting mode and can be switched, for example, between conventional lighting with a variable degree of coherence, ring field lighting and dipole or quadrupole lighting.

A device 6 for holding and manipulating a mask 7 is arranged behind the lighting system such that the mask lies in the object plane 8 of the projection objective and can be moved in this plane for scanner operation in a departure direction 9 (y direction) by means of a scan drive. Behind the mask plane 8 follows the projection lens 5, which acts as a reduction lens and images an image of a pattern arranged on the mask on a reduced scale, for example on a scale of 1: 4 or 1: 5, onto a wafer 10 covered with a photoresist layer or photoresist layer, which is arranged in the image plane n of the reduction lens. Other reduction scales are possible, for example larger reductions up to 1:20 or 1: 200.

The wafer 10 is held by a device 12 which comprises a scanner drive in order to move the wafer in parallel with the reticle 7. All systems are controlled by a control unit 13.

The projection objective 5 works with geometric beam splitting and has a catadioptric objective part 15 with a first deflecting mirror 16 and a concave mirror 17 between its object plane (mask plane 8) and its image plane (wafer plane 11), the plane deflecting mirror 16 in this way relative to the optical axis 18 of the projection objective Tilted is that the radiation coming from the object plane is deflected by the deflecting mirror 16 in the direction of the concave mirror 17. In addition to this mirror 16, which is necessary for the function of the projection objective, a second, planar deflection mirror 19 is provided, which is tilted relative to the optical axis in such a way that the radiation reflected by the concave mirror 17 through the deflection mirror 19 in the direction of the image plane n to the lenses of the following, dioptric lens part 20 is deflected. The mutually perpendicular, flat mirror surfaces 16, 19 are provided on a beam deflecting device 21 designed as a mirror prism (FIG. 2) and have parallel tilt axes perpendicular to the optical axis 18. It is possible to design the mirrors 16, 19 as physically separate mirrors , The spherically curved concave mirror 17 is arranged at the end of an inclined side arm 25. By tilting the side arm, a sufficient working distance across the entire width of the lens can be ensured on the mask side, among other things. Correspondingly, the angles of attack of the deflection mirrors 16, 19, which are perpendicular to one another with their planes, can deviate by several degrees from the optical axis 18 by 45 °.

In the example shown, the catadioptric objective part is designed in such a way that an intermediate image is formed in the region of the second deflecting mirror 19, which preferably does not coincide with the mirror plane, but can lie either behind it or in the direction of the concave mirror 17 in front of it. As a result, the projection objective 5 has two pupil planes, one pupil plane 35 in the immediate vicinity of the concave mirror 17 and one pupil plane 40 in the refractive objective part 20.

A special feature of the lens construction is that a birefringent transmission element 30, which is arranged in connection with the concave mirror 17, is arranged directly in front of the concave mirror 17 in an obliquely positioned region between the beam deflection device 21 and the concave mirror 17 in the inclined side arm 25 of the lens forms a reflective delay arrangement 50, which has a locally varying delay effect over its useful cross section. The delay arrangement 50 serves on the one hand as a polarization rotating device, which causes a global rotation of the preferred polarization direction of the light by approximately 90 ° in the light path between the first and the second deflection mirror 16 or 19. In addition, it acts as a compensation arrangement which, by means of the locally varying delay effect, brings about a location-dependent adjustment of the polarization state over the cross section of the radiation beam. The purpose is explained in more detail below. The mirror surfaces of the deflecting mirrors 16, 19 are covered with highly reflective layers 23, 24 in order to achieve high levels of reflection (FIG. 2). These include one or more layers of dielectric material, the calculation indices and layer thicknesses of which are selected such that reflection amplification occurs in the angle of incidence range used.

These layers introduce an incidence angle-dependent and polarization-dependent phase difference between the field components of the electrical field vector of the reflected light which are oriented perpendicular to one another (s-polarization or p-polarization). This results from the fact that the layers for s and p polarization, depending on the angle of incidence of the beams, represent a different optical path depending on the angle of incidence. In addition, conventional multilayers have different degrees of reflection for s and p polarization depending on the angle of incidence. In the case of conventional reflection layers, the degree of reflection for s-polarization over the entire angular range is often greater than for p-polarization, with particularly large differences in reflectivity being possible in the region of the Brewster angle of approximately 45 °.

On the one hand, these amplitude and phase effects can lead to the p component of the electric field being weakened more than the s component when it passes through the objective lens, so that, for example, with light on the entrance side, unpolarized or circularly polarized light, the light striking the image plane is stronger s component. On the other hand, polarization states that vary over the beam cross section can occur. This can e.g. structure-dependent resolution differences arise.

These problems are avoided in the embodiment shown in that the polarization of the light with the aid of the reflective delay arrangement 50 between the deflecting mirrors 16, 19 globally by a total of is approximately 90 ° rotated and additionally a location-dependent correction of polarization states in the area of the pupil plane 35 is introduced.

2 shows an example in which the input light 27 striking the first deflecting mirror 16 is circularly polarized, the amplitudes of s and p polarization symbolized by the arrow lengths being essentially the same. After reflection at the inclined mirror 16, the component of the electric field vibrating parallel to the plane of incidence is weakened more than the s component. This light passes through the birefringent transmission element 30, which is designed as a modified λ / 4 plate, which delays the phases of the field components by a quarter of a wavelength over the entire useful cross-section with a simple passage and, if necessary, introduces further small phase delays («λ / 4) depending on the location , After reflection at the concave mirror 17, in which the polarization state remains largely unchanged, the reflected light again passes through the transmission element 30, which has thus been passed through twice, with a further phase delay of approximately λ / 4 plus any small, location-dependent positive or negative delay contributions. The double passage through the plate 30 thus leads overall to a λ / 2 delay, which corresponds to a rotation of the polarization preferred directions by 90 °, and to a further delay which varies over the cross section and which, as a rule, is small compared to the main delay ( eg less than 10 - 20% of λ / 4) and this is superimposed. The variation can be set by different inclination effects and / or inclination directions of the passage direction generated by the deflecting structures.

It is thereby achieved on the one hand that the light 19 s-polarized with respect to the second deflection mirror has the (weaker) amplitude of the portion p-polarized behind the first deflection mirror, while the p component now has the larger amplitude. This p component is now weakened more than the (weaker) s component due to the reflectivity differences explained above, so that the amplitudes for s and p polarization are matched. The multiple layers 23 and 24 are expediently designed such that essentially the same amplitudes of s and p polarization are present behind the second deflecting mirror 16. With this light, imaging is possible without differences in contrast depending on the structure direction.

In addition, a location-dependent polarization correction is introduced in the region of the pupil plane 35, by means of which polarization variations that may occur in the vicinity of the field can be compensated for.

The delay arrangement 50 is shown schematically in detail in FIG. 3. It essentially consists of the birefringent transmission element 30 and the concave mirror 17 arranged directly behind it, the mirror surface 51 of which with the multilayer reflection coating 52 lies at a short distance behind the exit side 54 of the plate 30 opposite the entry side 53 of the delay arrangement. The transparent, birefringent plane-parallel plate 30 consists of a single anisotopic, optically uniaxial crystal, the main crystallographic axis 55 of which is essentially perpendicular to the plane-parallel plate surfaces 53, 54 and parallel to the optical axis 56 of the delay arrangement 50. The material of the plate is transparent to light of the intended working wavelength, with preferred working wavelengths in the UV range with wavelengths below approximately 260 nm. The one-piece plate 30 can, for example, consist of magnesium fluoride for light with a wavelength of 157 nm and of magnesium fluoride or quartz (silicon dioxide) for light with a wavelength of 193 nm or of mechanically braced calcium fluoride or quartz. The plate 30 is so in the beam path of the radiation to be influenced built in that the crystallographic main axis 55 is parallel, or the plate surfaces 53, 54 are perpendicular to the optical axis 18 of the projection objective. In the case of braced plates, the function of the crystallographic main axis is replaced by the main axis induced by the bracing. The axial thickness D of the plate is typically on the order of a few tenths of a millimeter and can optionally be so large that the plate can be installed in a self-supporting manner (for example approximately 0.5 mm to 10 mm). It is also possible to provide a support made of isotropic transparent material (for example quartz glass or calcium fluoride) to support the plate, on which the plate rests.

Associated deflecting structures 60, 61 with coordinated deflecting properties are formed on the entry side 53 and the exit side 54 of the plate. In the example, the deflecting structures are in the form of hexagon areas of the same size, which cover the entire entry side 53 and exit side 54 to fill the entire area. A deflecting structure acting in the manner of a blazed grating is provided in each hexagonal region, the orientations of the parallel grating strictures between adjacent delay regions 65, 66 generally differing by a few angular degrees. The deflecting structures define directly adjacent deceleration areas with different deceleration effects. The area boundaries between the delay areas are indicated by dashed lines.

The mode of operation of the transmission element 30 will now be explained in more detail with the aid of the diffractive structures 60 (on the inlet side 53) and 61 (on the outlet side 54) which are assigned to one another and are laterally offset from one another. The light incident parallel to the optical axis of the system (input radiation beam 70) strikes the deflecting structure 60 on the input side 53. This transmission grating deflects the radiation by diffraction in such a way that the passage Direction 71 of the first diffraction order within the crystal plate 30 runs obliquely to the crystallographic main axis 55. In this case, the “skewed” means any direction of passage that is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the crystallographic main axis 55. Such directions of passage are characterized by an inclination angle NW of more than 0 ° and less than 90 °. The diffractive structure 61 on the exit side 54 makes due to the same lattice constant as the input structure 60, this deflection is reversed again, so that the emerging light 67 emerges parallel to the optical axis of the system, offset parallel to the corresponding incident light .. These relationships are exaggerated in Fig. 3. The direction of the main crystallographic axis 55 and the passage direction 71 spans a passage plane defining the inclination direction, the intersection line 72 of which runs with the entry side 53 of the plate perpendicular to the lines of the deflecting grating structure 60. The path length W covered by the light within the crystal in the passage direction 71 is acc w = D / cos (NW) depending on the plate thickness D and the inclination angle NW.

Due to the birefringent properties of the plate material, a light wave with two orthogonal directions of vibration propagates within the plate 30, ie in the form of polarized field components perpendicular to one another, the direction of vibration 75 of one component in the passage plane and the direction of vibration 76 of the other component perpendicular to the passage plane runs. For the purposes of this application, the component 75 vibrating in the passage plane is referred to as an ordinary beam (index o) and the component 76 oscillating perpendicularly to it as an extraordinary beam (index ao). For birefringent materials, these two components generally have different refractive indices n ₀ for the ordinary and n _ao for the extraordinary beam, depending on the direction of passage. Their relationship is shown schematically in FIG. 4 for the case of a negative birefringent crystal. As is well known, the refractive index n is ₀ in all directions the same, while the refractive index n _{ao changes} depending on the angle NW to the crystallographic main axis 55. This splitting disappears in the direction of the crystallographic main axis 55 (n _ao = n ₀ ), while perpendicularly to it the difference in amount Δn = | n _ao - n ₀ | becomes maximum (Λn _ma x). As is known from the theory of delay plates, the two field components polarized perpendicular to one another leave the birefringent material without a directional difference, but with a path difference G, according to G = W ^■ x | n _ao - n ₀ |.

After the first passage through the plate 30, the emerging light 67 hits the mirror surface 51 of the concave mirror 17 and is reflected back by the latter essentially in the opposite direction in the direction of the plate 30. The deflecting structures 61 on their exit side 54 deflect the radiation such that it again passes through the plate essentially parallel to the direction of passage 71 and thus obliquely to the crystallographic main axis 55 (law of reciprocity). When exiting the entry side 53 of the plate, the deflecting structures 60 there ensure that the exiting light (output beam 80) runs back essentially parallel to the entering light 70 in the direction of the beam deflection device 21. On the second passage through the birefringent transmission plate 30, a path difference G of the orthogonal field components is generated again, so that the total deceleration generated essentially corresponds to twice the path difference G.

Such an arrangement generates the desired distribution of locally different polarization states exclusively through a delay effect on the input radiation, not through filtering. This achieves a high degree of transmission efficiency.

A special feature of the delay arrangement is that the inclination angle NW can be adjusted within certain limits by dimensioning or designing the deflecting structures, the Inclination angle increases in the linear grating structure shown, the smaller the grating constant (distance between adjacent grating lines perpendicular to the line course). 4 that in the range of small angles of inclination, i.e. when the direction of passage 71 is at a very acute angle to the crystallographic main axis 55, the refractive index difference Δn can assume very small values which are only a fraction of the maximum refractive index difference Δn _max , which would occur at a right angle between the direction of light propagation 71 and the crystallographic main axis 55. The possibility of setting very small refractive index differences (given plate material) created by the invention leads to the fact that the plate thickness D required for a desired path difference G of the polarization components at the output of plate 30 can be many times higher in delay arrangements according to the invention than in conventional ones Delay plates in which the direction of incidence of the light is perpendicular to the main crystallographic axis 55. The invention thus enables uncomfortably small thicknesses of birefringent plates to be avoided, which is particularly advantageous when using large cross sections. The direction of inclination can also be specifically adjusted by means of the deflecting structures.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the plate thickness D and the angle of inclination NW (by suitable grating constants of the deflecting grating) are selected so that a path difference G of approx gives a quarter of the wavelength of the incoming light 70. In this way, analogous to a quarter-wave plate, incoming circularly polarized light is converted into outgoing linearly polarized light. The circularly polarized light is reflected back by the concave mirror 17 and undergoes a λ / 4 delay on the way back, that is to say the second time it passes through the plate 30, so that it leaves the delay arrangement essentially circularly polarized in each of the delay regions 65, 66. The orientation of the preferred polarization direction of each area after the mirror-side exit from the delay arrangement can be influenced for each area by the orientation of the deflecting structures. Their orientation determines the orientation of the passage plane for each area, that is locally, and thus also the orientation of the vibration directions 75, 76 of the field components polarized perpendicular to one another. These directions 75, 76 are also referred to as induced crystal axes.

The reflective delay arrangement 50 thus effects over its entire useful cross section in a first approximation in a λ / 2-phase delay between the light of the input radiation bundle 70 and the light of the output beam bundle 80. However, due to the delay areas 65, 66 distributed over the cross section, an additional local one can Variation of the deceleration effect can be set over the effective cross section. For this purpose, the deflecting structures in the individual hexagon cells 65, 66 can be set so that locally small deviations from the described λ / 2 total delay can result. Since this spatially resolving influencing of the polarization states takes place in the vicinity of a pupil plane 35 of the projection objective, polarization inhomogeneities which occur in the area of a field plane of the projection objective can be compensated for (cf. explanations for FIG. 6).

There are also embodiments that serve exclusively as compensation means. In these, the amount of delay effect varying over the effective cross section can be predominantly or continuously small against λ / 4. This is possible, for example, by correspondingly smaller plate thicknesses of the transmission element and / or by setting a smaller angle of inclination. Delay arrangements of the type described are inexpensive to produce with high quality. Starting crystals of silicon dioxide or magnesium fluoride for producing the birefringent plate are available in large dimensions up to, for example, 20 or 30 cm in diameter, especially for silicon dioxide, precisely in the required orientation of the main crystallographic axis. To produce a delay arrangement, only one plate has to be processed, which due to the typical thickness of a few tenths of a millimeter is relatively insensitive and easy to handle during processing. The deflecting, ie diffractive and / or refractive structures on the plate surfaces can be produced with the aid of suitable lithographic processes, so that the supply costs can remain low in the case of large quantities. In principle, mechanical structure generation is also possible.

Another embodiment of a reflective delay arrangement 150 is shown schematically in FIG. The structure shows similarities to the delay arrangement 50 in FIG. 3, which is why corresponding reference numerals, enlarged by 100, are selected for corresponding features. The delay arrangement comprises a one-piece plane-parallel transmission plate 130 made of birefringent material, the main crystallographic axis 155 of which is perpendicular to the plate planes or parallel to the optical axis 156 of the delay arrangement. Hexagonal cells with deflecting structures of the type described above are formed on the entry side 153. A multilayer reflective coating 152 is applied directly to the plate surface 154 lying opposite the entry side 153. Similar to the embodiment according to FIG. 3, deflecting structures 161 are provided on the side 154 of the plate 130 facing the mirror surface 151.

The input beam bundle 170 incident essentially parallel to the optical axis of the delay arrangement is at the deflecting structures 160 of the delay area 166 in FIG a direction of passage which is oblique to the axis 155 is deflected, which, as explained above, results in a phase delay in the first passage as far as the mirror surface 154 as a function of the plate thickness D and angle of inclination NW. The radiation is reflected on the mirror surface 154, the deflecting structures 161 ensuring that the radiation is reflected back into itself. The retroreflected radiation essentially passes through the plate 130 in a second passage at the same angle of inclination to the crystallographic axis 155 until it strikes the deflecting structures 160 provided on the entry side, which deflect it into an output beam 180 with a direction of failure essentially parallel to the direction of incidence ,

The reflective delay arrangement 150, with a delay effect that may vary in a spatially resolving manner, can have a curved shape, for example, to serve as a concave mirror within a catadioptric projection objective, which at the same time has a delay effect on the reflected radiation that varies over its cross section. An exemplary use is explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 6.

6 schematically shows the structure of a catadioptric projection objective 200 with a polarization beam splitter. It is used to reproduce a pattern of a reticle or the like arranged in its object plane 201 in its image plane 202 on a reduced scale, for example in a ratio of 4: 1, while generating exactly one real intermediate image (not shown). The projection objective, which is designed for a working wavelength of λ = 157 nm, has a first, catadioptric objective part 203 between the object plane and the image plane and behind it a second, purely dioptric objective part 204. The catadioptric objective part comprises a physical beam splitter 205 with an oblique to the optical axis, flat polarization beam splitter surface 207 and a mirror group with an imaging Concave mirror or concave mirror 250, which also serves as a space-variant reflective retarder (ie as a delay arrangement with a locally varying delay effect). The second lens part 204, which has a reducing effect, has a plane deflection mirror 210 inclined to the optical axis, which, in conjunction with the reflection on the beam splitter surface 207, makes it possible for the mask arranged in the object plane to be parallel to a light-sensitive substrate arranged in the image plane 202, for example one with a Align photoresist layer coated semiconductor wafers. This facilitates scanner operation of the mask and wafer. Embodiments without a deflecting mirror or variants with more than one deflecting mirror are also possible.

Operation with polarized ultraviolet light (linear or circularly polarized in the respective lens regions) is characteristic of projection lenses of this type, the state of polarization being adapted to the properties of the beam splitter layer 207. The polarization-selective beam splitter layer should essentially pass one direction of polarization and block the other. The roles of the polarization components (components of the electric field vector perpendicular or parallel to the respective plane of incidence on an optical component) are exchanged depending on whether the beam splitter layer 207 is used in transmission or in reflection.

All entry and exit surfaces of the lenses and the polarization beam splitter are covered with multilayer, dielectric anti-reflection interference layer systems (AR layers) in order to improve the transmission of the objective. The mirror surfaces of the mirrors 250, 210 are covered with highly reflective dielectric reflex interference layer systems (HR layers) 252, 212.

A special feature of this system is the concave mirror arrangement 250. It comprises a spherically curved mirror substrate 260 with an on the concave side applied multilayer reflective coating 252 and a spherically curved birefringent transmission element 230 applied directly to the reflective coating 252. The transmission element 230 has approximately the retarding effect of a λ / 4 plate over its entire useful cross section, this global retarding effect having a spatially resolving variation Delay effect is superimposed, which is small in the different delay areas 270, 271, 272 against λ / 4. For this purpose, the concave mirror arrangement 250 is configured analogously to the delay arrangement 150 in FIG. 5. For each of the delay areas 270, 271, 272, it therefore has deflecting structures on the entry surface facing the beam splitter, which deflects the incident radiation locally in an oblique direction to the crystallographic main axis 255 of the transmission plate 230. In addition, deflecting structures are formed at the mirror-side exit of the transmission element 230, which cause the reflecting rays to reflect back into themselves.

The projection objective 200 is designed for operation with circularly polarized input light, which is provided by an illumination system arranged above the object plane 201. After passing through the mask arranged in the object plane and a λ / 4 plate 220 arranged behind it, the light is s-polarized with respect to the beam splitter layer 207 and is reflected by the latter in the direction of the concave mirror arrangement 250. After passing through one or more schematically indicated lenses 225, the input radiation bundle 280 strikes the birefringent transmission element 230. When it first passes through the transmission element, there is essentially a phase delay of λ / 4 between the field components over the entire useful cross section, so that the radiation largely circularly polarized strikes the reflective coating 252, from which it is reflected back in the direction of the beam deflection device. In the second passage through the transmission element 230, a a further λ / 4 delay has been introduced, so that the output radiation beam extending from the concave mirror arrangement 250 to the beam splitter 205 is p-polarized with respect to the beam splitter layer 207 after a second passage through the transmission element 230. The p-polarized light is now transmitted by the beam splitter layer 207 and strikes the deflecting mirror 210, from which it is deflected in the direction of the image plane 202. Special features of this mirror 210 are explained in more detail below in connection with FIG. 7.

Ideally, the polarization discrimination described is perfect and the light that strikes or passes through the individual optical components has the desired polarization state. Due to the polarization-dependent effects of the interference layer systems with a course over the angle of incidence used (incidence angle), through voltage-induced and / or intrinsic birefringence of the transparent optical components and / or through geometric effects, an undesirable variation in the polarization state across the cross section of the radiation beam can occur.

In conventional systems, this can lead, for example, to the fact that the light reflected back from the concave mirror in the direction of the beam splitter is not perfectly p-polarized, but also has other polarization components in partial areas of the beam cross section. For these the beam splitter layer is not perfectly transmissive, so that on the one hand back reflection of light components in the direction of the mask can occur at the beam splitter layer and on the other hand the radiation transmitted to the deflecting mirror is polarized unevenly over the cross section.

In the embodiment, these problems are avoided in that the concave mirror arrangement 250 is simultaneously designed as a reflective delay arrangement with a delay effect that varies over its cross section. In the example, these are The delay effects of the individual delay areas 270, 271, 272 are adapted to the residual system in such a way that the radiation coming from the mirror arrangement 250 to the beam splitter is almost perfectly p-polarized over the entire cross-section, even if the input radiation 280 for the concave mirror has a cross-section over its cross-section Has polarization inflow variation. As a result, the beam splitter 205 can be used with optimum transmission efficiency.

For example, the local distributions of the polarization state over the beam cross section at the corresponding points of the beam path are shown schematically in Fig. 6 in the sub-figures 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4. FIG. 6-3 schematically shows the local variation of the delay effect of the delay arrangement 250 over the useful cross section in order to convert the “distorted” spatial distribution of the preferred polarization direction in FIG. 6-2 (ie before the concave mirror) into a uniform polarization after the concave mirror (partial figure 6-4) Before entering the beam splitter 205, the radiation is uniformly linearly polarized over the entire beam cross-section, specifically with s-polarization with respect to the plane of incidence (part of figure 6-1) a location-dependent variation of the preferred direction of the polarization directed toward the concave mirror 250 (sub-figure 6-2) In order to compensate for this distortion and to return to a polarization which is uniform across the cross section, the direction of the cri stallographic axes (lines in sub-figure 6-3) within the delay areas 270, 271, 272 of the delay arrangement 250 are each locally aligned at 45 ° to the locally incident direction of polarization. This is achieved by suitable design of the diffractive structures of the exposed entry surface and of the exit surface of the transmission element 230 facing the reflection coating 252. These are designed to vary across the cross-section so that the Output radiation beam 290 is polarized perpendicular to the polarization distribution according to sub-figure 6-2 (sub-figure 6-4). As a result, an almost complete transmission of the radiation beam in the direction of the deflecting mirror 210 over the beam cross section can be achieved without location-dependent radiation losses.

Although the deflecting mirror 210 can be designed as a “normal” deflecting mirror with a highly reflective reflective coating, in the embodiment shown the deflecting mirror 210 is also designed as a reflective delay arrangement with a delay effect that varies spatially over its useful cross section in order to make use of the p-polarized with respect to the mirror surface 7 largely to form an output beam 291 with a cylindrical symmetrical polarization state distribution (radial or tangential) in the course of the deflection in the course of the redirection.

The deflecting mirror 210, which is designed as a reflective delay arrangement with a spatially resolving varying delay effect, comprises a birefringent transmission element 230 in the form of a plane-parallel plate, on the rear side 231 of which is opposite the input radiation, a highly reflective multilayer reflex layer system 212 is attached. The whole is applied to a mechanically and thermally stable mirror substrate 211. The transmission element 230 has a multiplicity of hexagonal plates 232, 233, which are arranged to fill the surface, and whose crystallographic main axes 234, 235 run perpendicular to the optical axis 236 of the delay arrangement or parallel to the flat plate surfaces.

The main axes 234, 235 of the cells or delay areas 232, 233 are each linear in the direction of the bisector between the polarization direction P of the entering ones polarized radiation and the respective radius directed to the optical axis 236 through the center of each cell (Fig. 8). The thickness of the plate 230 is dimensioned in such a way that a total λ / 2 delay results in the case of oblique penetration and double passage. Another special feature is that a possible delay due to the mirror layer is included in the design of the birefringent cells. Each cell thus causes the direction of polarization to rotate in the direction of the radius mentioned when it passes twice. The reflected output radiation 291 is thus radially polarized.

The partial figure 6-5 shown in FIG. 6 schematically shows this effect. Radial lines are shown in the round cross section of the radiation beam, which represent the locally preferred polarization direction of the partial radiation beams. Figure 6-6 shows the conditions for tangential output polarization.

Screening with hexagonal cells is only one embodiment. Other screenings, in particular also fan-like sector division boys of the cells, are sensibly possible.

If the crystallographic main axes of the birefringent cells are parallel to the surface, the delay effect before and after the reflection at mirror 212 is the same, ie the polarization effect on an incident Jones vector Ej results in the mirror's own system (sp system)

with the diagonal Jones matrix of the mirror and the Jones matrix of the cell (of the delay area) cos ² φ + exp {ia} sin ² φ cos φ sin φ (l - exp {ia}) (3) cos φ sin φ (l - exp {ia}) sin ² φ + exp {ia} cos ² φ _y

A possible polarizing effect of the mirror (difference in reflectivity for s and p polarization) can of course not be compensated for by the birefringent cells. These only affect the phase.

An evaluation of equations 1 - 3 for incident linear-x polarization shows that any desired output polarization state can be generated by a suitable parameter combination (φ, α, ß). Here ß represents the delay of the mirror, α the delay of the transmitting plate and φ the orientation of the crystallographic main axis in the plane.

The birefringent layer should be as thin as possible (e.g. a few μm) in order to avoid disturbances caused by the cell boundaries in the case of oblique incidence. If the birefringent cells are made of MgF ₂ , then with Δn = 0.009 the thickness required to implement a Λ / 4 plate at 45 ° at λ = 193 nm is approx. 10 μm.

A further embodiment of a reflective delay arrangement 300 with a delay effect that varies in a spatially resolving manner is explained with reference to FIG. 9. The delay circuit 30 includes a Spiegelsubtrat 301, which consists of a material with a low thermal expansion coefficient, for example of the well-known under the trademark ZERODUR ^® ceramic or other material with a low thermal expansion coefficient. A highly reflective, dielectric multilayer reflective layer system 310 is applied to an optically flat substrate surface 302 by vapor deposition. The reflective coating 310 is an anisotropic coating in which the individual dielectric individual layers are designed approximately as λ / 2 layers with different refractive indices. Due to oblique evaporation (typical evaporation angles of 40 ° or more), the materials of the individual layers have a polarization-dependent refractive index due to the structure. The coating process was used to generate a local variation in the anisotropy within the reflection coating with the aid of suitable masking techniques, so that adjacent regions 360, 361, 362 with different polarization-optical effects are present. This creates a local variation in the delay effect over the useful cross section of the delay arrangement 300, which variation can be used to set a desired polarization state distribution over the cross section of the reflected radiation beam.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the reflective delay arrangement 400 is designed as a dielectrically reinforced metal mirror. This comprises a mirror substrate 401, on the substrate surface 402 of which a few 100 nm thin aluminum layer 405 is applied by vapor deposition, sputtering or in some other way. A dielectric multilayer system 408 is applied to reinforce the broadband reflection effect of the metal layer 405, which together with the metal layer 405 forms the reflection coating 41O. The dielectric multilayer system 408 is designed analogously to the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 as an anisotropic coating with adjacent delay areas 460, 461, 462 with different delay effects, with the local differences in polarization and optical effects also being generated here by differences in the anisotropy of the coating.

Mirrors with a location-dependent delay effect of the type shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 can be used, for example, as a flat deflecting mirror in a projection objective or in an illumination system of a microlithography projection exposure system. are set, for example as a 90 ° deflecting mirror 28 within an illumination system 4 with a folded beam path (FIG. 1).

For a more detailed explanation, FIG. 11 schematically shows a DUV lighting system 500 that can be used in the system according to FIG. 1. The illumination system has a pupil shaping unit 501, which receives the light coming from the laser 502 and reshapes the shape and beam angle distribution of the radiation in such a way that a desired two-dimensional intensity distribution of the radiation is present in a pupil shaping surface 503. By suitable, computer-controlled adjustment of the optical components within the pupil shaping unit 503, all common two-dimensional illuminating light distributions can be set in the pupil shaping surface 503, for example conventional illuminations of different diameters, annular settings or polar settings, such as dipole or quattrupole setting. The pupil shaping surface 503 is a pupil surface of the lighting system. A two-dimensional raster arrangement 504 of refractive raster elements is arranged in the vicinity or in the pupil shaping surface 503, which overall has a rectangular radiation characteristic, generates a large part of the light conductance value of the lighting system and the light conductance value via subsequent coupling optics 505 to the desired field size in a subsequent field plane 506 of the Adapting lighting system. The pupil shaping surface 503 is a Fourier-transformed plane to the subsequent field plane 506, so that the spatial intensity distribution in the pupil shaping surface is transformed into an angular distribution in the field surface 506.

The rectangular entry surface of a rod-shaped light integrator 510, which is made of synthetic quartz glass or calcium fluoride and mixes the light passing through by multiple internal reflections and is homogenized in the field plane 506, thereby homogenizing such that a largely homogeneous one is present in the exit surface of the rod integrator Intensity distribution exists, the angular distribution of which

Corresponds to the angular distribution on the entry surface of the rod integrator. Immediately on the exit surface of the rod integrator is an intermediate field level 520, in which a reticle masking system (RE A) 521 is arranged, which serves as an adjustable field diaphragm. The subsequent imaging objective 530 images the intermediate field level 520 with the masking system 521 into the reticle level (mask level) 540, which is also the object level of the subsequent projection objective. The objective 530 contains a first lens group 531, an intermediate pupil plane 532 into which filters or diaphragms can be introduced, a second and a third lens group 533, 534 and an intermediate planar deflection mirror 550, which in the region of largely collimated radiation in the vicinity of the pupil surface 532 can be arranged and which makes it possible to install the large lighting device horizontally and to store the reticle horizontally.

In another embodiment, also shown in Fig. 11, the lighting system is without a separate light mixing element, i.e. constructed without integrator rod or honeycomb condenser. In this case, the field level 506 behind the coupling optics 505 coincides with the level of the reticle masking system 521 or is bridged by a suitable relay optics. In this embodiment, a suitably designed raster element of the raster element 504 type can be modified such that sufficient homogenized radiation intensity is already present in the field plane 506.

The optical components of the illumination system between the laser source 502 and the object plane 520 of the objective 530 can work largely polarization-maintaining, so that the radiation entering the objective 530 is linearly polarized essentially over the entire cross-section (partial figure 11-1). Because such polarization may be inconvenient for illuminating the reticle and can introduce imaging direction-dependent imaging properties, the deflecting mirror 550 is designed as a reflective delay arrangement with a location-dependent varying delay effect in order to convert linearly polarized input light into tangentially polarized output light (sub-figure 11-2). The structure of the deflection mirror 550 can correspond to the structure of the deflection mirror 210 according to FIG. 6, which is why reference is made to the description there.

If the optical components lying in front of the deflecting mirror in the light path have an overall polarization-changing effect, so that the radiation incident on the deflecting mirror does not have a uniform polarization over the cross section of the radiation beam, the deflecting mirror 550 can also be designed such that these polarization variations over the cross section be compensated.

It is explained with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13 that the invention can also be used in projection exposure systems which work with radiation from the extreme ultraviolet range (EUV). 12 shows an example of a projection system 600, the structure of which is described in the applicant's patent application US 2003/0099034 A1. The disclosure of this patent application is incorporated by reference into the content of this description. The projection objective serves to image a pattern of a reflective reticle arranged in its object plane 602 in a reduced scale, for example in a ratio of 4: 1, into an image plane 603 oriented parallel to the object plane. The working wavelength is approximately 13.4 nm. Between the object plane and the image plane, a total of six mirrors 604 to 609, which are provided with curved mirror surfaces and are thus imaged, are arranged coaxially with one another in such a way that they define a common optical axis 610 which is perpendicular to the Image plane and the object plane stands. The mirror substrates have the shape of rotationally symmetrical aspheres, the axes of symmetry of which share the common mechanical axis 10 coincide. In the imaging, a real intermediate image 511 is generated, so that the projection objective has two pupil surfaces, one of which is in the vicinity of the mirror 605 and a second in the vicinity of the mirror 609. All reflective surfaces of the mirrors 604 to 609 are covered with multilayer reflective coatings which comprise a multiplicity of alternating layer pairs with individual layers made of silicon and molybdenum.

The concave mirror 609 is designed as a reflective delay arrangement with a delay effect which varies locally over the useful cross section. It is divided into contiguous small delay areas that cover the mirror surface without gaps. The delay areas can have, for example, a hexagon shape or a circular segment shape.

13 shows a schematic section through the concave mirror 609. A multilayer mirror layer system 621 is applied to a mirror substrate 620 made of silicon, which is constructed from alternating individual layers made of molybdenum and silicon, which cover the mirror substrate throughout. The mirror layer system 621 is covered with a thinner, structured multi-layer mirror 622. The structured area 622, which acts as a diffractive structure, comprises a plurality of webs 623, 624 arranged parallel to one another, each of which is constructed as a Mo-Si alternating layer package. The webs form a periodic grating structure with a periodicity length 625, which in the example is 13 nm and is therefore slightly below the working wavelength of the ultraviolet radiation (13.5 nm). In the example, the structures of the grating 622 have a total of 42 individual layers, while the mirror layer 621 comprises a total of 84 layers. The geometric layer thicknesses are approximately 2.488 nm for the Mo individual layers and 4.406 nm for the Si individual layers. (Period 13 nm). Due to the inhomogeneous material distribution in the area of the diffractive structure 622, the zero order grid formed by the webs has a polarization-dependent phase transmission. The phase of the reflected light thus becomes polarization-dependent, so that the mirror acts like a retarder in each of its delay areas. A simulation of the phase difference for a parallel (TE) and an electric field polarized perpendicular (TM) to the lattice structures with perpendicular light incidence shows a phase with absolute phases of approx. -0.024λ for the TE polarization and -0.034λ for the TM polarization - difference of λ / 100. In contrast, the reflectivity for both polarization directions is almost identical (73.7% for TE and 73.6% for TM polarization).

The local variation of the birefringent effect within the structured surface 622 can be implemented in various ways. For example, it is possible for the diffractive structures within the surface to have a constant structure depth (height of the webs

623, 624, 625) but have a locally varying fill factor. The

Fill factor can e.g. can be varied by changing the structure width (width of the webs 623, 624) while the period 625 is kept constant. It is also possible to provide a constant fill factor but varying structure depths within the structured surface. The local birefringence effect can be the polarization distribution of the

Input radiation can be adapted so that the radiation incident on the image plane 603 is essentially uniformly polarized.

Claims

claims

1. Delay arrangement for converting an input radiation bundle impinging from an input side of the delay arrangement into an output radiation bundle, which cross section has a spatial distribution of polarization states that can be influenced by the delay arrangement, which differs from the spatial distribution of polarization states of the input radiation, the Delay arrangement is designed as a reflective delay arrangement and a useful cross section of the delay arrangement has a plurality of delay areas with different delay effects.

2. Delay arrangement according to claim 1, which comprises at least one transparent birefringent transmission element and a mirror with a mirror surface which is arranged on a side of the transmission element opposite the entry side of the delay arrangement in such a way that the input radiation after a first passage through the transmission element for a second Passage through the transmission element is reflected back.

3. Delay arrangement according to claim 2, in which the mirror surface is arranged directly on an exit side of the transmission element opposite the entry side of the delay arrangement.

4. Delay arrangement according to claim 2, in which there is a distance between an exit surface of the transmission element and the mirror surface.

5. Delay arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the mirror is a concave mirror.

6. The delay arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the transmission element has a curved shape adapted to the concave mirror.

7. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 2, in which the reflection properties of the mirror surface are designed such that a degree of reflection and / or a phase-delaying effect for radiation polarized perpendicularly and parallel to an plane of incidence are essentially the same.

8. The deceleration arrangement as claimed in claim 2, in which a delay effect of the mirror is adapted to the delay properties of the transmission element in order to achieve the overall desired, location-dependent, varying delay effect.

9. delay arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the birefringent transmission element has a plurality of juxtaposed delay areas made of transparent birefringent material, each of the delay areas has an axial thickness and a crystallographic major axis lying at a certain angle of inclination to a radiation direction, the axial thickness and the angle of inclination is designed to generate a predeterminable path difference between perpendicularly aligned field components of the radiation when it passes twice through the delay element.

10. Delay arrangement according to claim 9, wherein the crystallographic main axes of the delay areas in different whose directions are aligned perpendicular to an optical axis of the delay arrangement.

11. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 2, in which at least one birefringent transmission element is provided which has a crystallographic main axis and an axial thickness, a useful cross section of the delay arrangement being divided into a plurality of delay regions which are designed such that the direction of passage of the radiation through the birefringent transmission element in the deceleration area runs so obliquely to the direction of the crystallographic main axis of the deceleration area that the direction of passage with the crystallographic main axis includes an angle of inclination of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° and in a direction spanned by the direction of passage and the direction of the crystallographic main axis Passage plane lies, with the axial thickness and the angle of inclination being matched to one another for the at least one deceleration region such that an optical path length difference of the field component n in the delay area after double passage through the delay element corresponds to a predetermined path difference and the orientation of the passage plane is set for each delay area in such a way that the preferred polarization direction locally desired for the delay area results.

12. Delay arrangement according to claim 11, in which a birefringent transmission element is provided with a crystallographic main axis aligned substantially parallel to an optical axis of the delay device and the birefringent transmission element is assigned for each delay area at least one deflecting structure which deflects the input radiation in such a way that it diffuses with the inclination angle provided for the deceleration range and the direction of inclination penetrates the deceleration range.

13. Delay arrangement according to claim 12, in which deflecting structures are provided on an input side of the birefringent transmission element for deflecting the incident radiation in the oblique direction of passage and deflecting structures associated on the exit side of the birefringent transmission element are provided for reversing the deflection.

14. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 12, in which the birefringent transmission element is formed by a plate made of birefringent material, the deflecting structures being formed directly on an entry side and / or an exit side of the plate.

15. A delay arrangement according to claim 12, wherein at least one deflecting structure is a diffractive structure.

16. The delay arrangement according to claim 12, wherein at least one deflecting structure is a refractive structure.

17. A delay arrangement according to claim 12, wherein at least one deflecting structure is a diffractive and refractive structure.

18. Delay arrangement according to claim 12, in which a usage cross section of the delay arrangement is divided into a plurality of delay areas with constant deflection and / or the same angle of inclination, which substantially fill the useful cross section of the delay arrangement.

19. Delay arrangement according to claim 11, in which a plurality of birefringent transmission elements are arranged in a useful cross section, each of the transmission elements forming a delay area and having an axial thickness, in each of the birefringent transmission elements the crystallographic main axis so skewed with respect to the direction of passage of the radiation is tilted that the crystallographic main axis spans the passage plane with the direction of passage and the crystallographic main axes of at least two of the transmission elements are oriented differently.

20. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 1, which is designed to convert incoming, essentially circularly polarized radiation into emerging, regionally linearly polarized radiation.

21. The delay arrangement according to claim 1, which is designed such that the output radiation beam is substantially tangentially or radially polarized.

22. The delay arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined path difference in twice the passage corresponds substantially to a quarter of the wavelength of the incoming radiation.

23. The delay arrangement according to claim 1, which is designed to convert incoming radiation that is linearly polarized over an entire cross-section in one direction into emerging radiation that is linearly polarized in regions and is polarized tangentially or radially.

24. The delay arrangement according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined path difference in the double passage corresponds essentially to half a wavelength of the incoming radiation.

25. The delay arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the transmission element has an axial thickness of more than 100 μm.

26. The delay arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the delay areas have a polygonal shape.

27. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which a useful cross section is divided into small delay areas of the same size and / or shape,

28. A delay arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a number of the delay areas is of the order of 10 or 100 or more.

29. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 1, having a substrate and a reflection coating arranged on the substrate, the reflection coating having a locally varying, polarization-changing reflection effect in order to form delay regions with different delay effects.

30. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 29, in which the reflection coating is designed as an anisotropic reflection coating with a local variation in the anisotropy of the reflection coating.

31. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which a local distribution of the delay effect is designed such that there is an effective delay distribution which essentially is rotationally symmetrical to an optical axis of the delay arrangement.

32. The delay arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which a local distribution of the delay effect is designed in such a way that there is an effective delay distribution which has a delay effect which increases or decreases in a radial direction of the delay arrangement.

33. The deceleration arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which a local distribution of the deceleration effect is designed such that an effective deceleration distribution results which is not rotationally symmetrical.

34. A deceleration arrangement according to claim 33, in which the non-rotationally symmetrical deceleration distribution has a multiple symmetry with respect to an optical axis of the deceleration arrangement.

35. The delay arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the delay arrangement has a substrate and a reflection coating, which is attached to the substrate and is effective for radiation from the extreme ultraviolet range (EUV) and which has a locally different polarization-modified reflection effect to form delay regions with different delay effects.

36. Delay arrangement according to claim 35, in which the reflective coating is designed as a multilayer reflective coating with superimposed layers with alternating high refractive index and low refractive index materials, diffractive structural elements of spaced-apart structures being provided, the Distance is smaller than the wavelength of the radiation and an arrangement of the structures for forming delay areas with different delay effects varies locally.

37. Microlithography projection exposure system with an illumination device comprising a radiation source for illuminating a mask and with a projection lens connected downstream of the illumination device for imaging a pattern provided by the mask into an image plane of the projection lens, the projection exposure system having at least one delay arrangement for converting one from an input side of the delay arrangement incident radiation beam into an output radiation beam, which has over its cross section a spatial distribution of polarization states that can be influenced by the delay arrangement, which differs from the spatial distribution of polarization states of the input radiation, the delay arrangement being designed as a reflective delay arrangement and a useful cross section of the delay arrangement Variety of delay areas below different delay effect.

38. Projection exposure system according to claim 37, in which the delay arrangement is designed as a deflection mirror and is arranged between the radiation source and the mask in the illumination device.

39. Projection exposure system according to claim 37, in which the delay device is arranged in the radiation flow direction behind a last polarizing optical element.

0. Projection exposure system according to claim 37, in which the projection objective is a catadioptric projection objective, in which at least one catadioptric objective part with a concave mirror and a beam deflecting device is arranged between the object plane and the image plane, the concave mirror being designed as a reflective delay arrangement and a useful cross section of the concave mirror has a large number of delay areas with different delay effects.

41. The projection exposure apparatus as claimed in claim 40, in which the delay arrangement comprises at least one transparent birefringent transmission element and a mirror with a mirror surface which is arranged on a side of the transmission element opposite the entry side of the delay arrangement in such a way that the input radiation after a first passage through the transmission element is reflected back for a second passage through the transmission element, the birefringent transmission element having a multiplicity of delay regions made of transparent birefringent material arranged next to one another, each of the delay regions having an axial thickness and a crystallographic main axis lying at a specific angle of inclination with respect to a transmission direction, whereby the axial thickness and the angle of inclination to produce a predeterminable path difference between the perpendicularly aligned field components of the radiation are designed for double passage through the delay element.

42. Projection exposure system according to claim 41, in which the crystallographic main axes of the delay areas in different directions are aligned perpendicular to an optical axis of the delay arrangement.

43. The projection exposure apparatus as claimed in claim 41, in which at least one birefringent transmission element is provided which has a crystallographic main axis and an axial thickness, a useful cross section of the delay arrangement being divided into a plurality of delay regions which are designed such that the direction of passage of the Radiation through the birefringent transmission element in the retardation area is so inclined to the direction of the crystallographic main axis of the retardation area that the direction of passage with the crystallographic main axis includes an angle of inclination of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° and in one by the direction of passage and the direction of the crystallographic Main axis spanned passage plane, wherein for the at least one deceleration area, the axial thickness and the angle of inclination are matched to one another such that an optical path length difference of the Fe Components in the delay area after double passage through the delay element corresponds to a predetermined path difference and the orientation of the passage plane is set for each delay area in such a way that the preferred polarization direction locally desired for the delay area results.

44. The projection exposure apparatus as claimed in claim 41, in which a birefringent transmission element is provided with a crystallographic main axis aligned essentially parallel to an optical axis of the delay device, and the birefringent transmission element is associated with at least one deflecting structure for each delay region, which deflects the input radiation in such a way that that this penetrates the deceleration range with the inclination angle and the tilt direction provided for the deceleration range.

45. The projection exposure system as claimed in claim 37, in which the projection objective is a catadioptric projection objective, in which at least one plane deflection mirror is arranged between the object plane and the image plane, the deflection mirror being designed as a reflective delay arrangement and a useful cross section of the deflection mirror having a multiplicity of delay regions different delay effect.

46.Projection exposure system with an illumination device comprising a radiation source for extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV) for illuminating a reflective mask and with a projection lens connected downstream of the illumination device for imaging a pattern provided by the mask into an image plane of the projection lens, the projection exposure system at least one delay arrangement for converting a from an input side of the delay arrangement impinging input radiation bundle into an output radiation bundle which, over its cross section, has a spatial distribution of polarization states which can be influenced by the delay arrangement and which differs from the spatial distribution of polarization states of the input radiation, the delay arrangement being designed as a reflective delay arrangement and a useful cross section the delay order is a Vielza hl of delay areas with different delay effects.

47. Projection exposure system according to claim 46, in which the delay arrangement has a substrate and a reflection coating, which is attached to the substrate and is effective for radiation from the extreme ultraviolet range (EUV) and which has a locally different polarization-changed reflection effect to form delay regions with different delay effects.

48. Projection exposure system according to claim 47, in which the reflective coating is designed as a multilayer reflective coating with layers lying one above the other with alternating high-refractive and low-refractive index materials, diffractive structural elements being provided by structures running alongside one another at a distance, the distance being smaller than the wavelength of the radiation and an arrangement of the structures for forming delay areas with different delay effects varies locally.