Optical system and lithography apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12130557-B2
Application number	US-202217885353-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 10, 2022
Priority date	Feb 12, 2020
Publication date	Oct 29, 2024
Grant date	Oct 29, 2024

Abstract

An optical system comprises at least one mirror having a mirror body and a mirror surface, and at least one actuator device coupled to the mirror body and serving for deforming the mirror surface. The actuator device comprises at least one electrostrictive actuator element for generating a mechanical stress in the mirror body for deforming the mirror surface depending on an electrical drive voltage, and at least one electrostrictive sensor element for outputting a sensor signal depending on a deformation of the sensor element. The at least one sensor element is arranged directly adjacent to the actuator element and/or is arranged in such a way that it is configured at least partly for transferring the mechanical stress generated by the actuator element to the mirror body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical system, comprising:
a mirror, comprising:
a mirror body comprising a front side and a rear side facing away from the front side; and
a mirror surface disposed on the front side of the mirror body; and

an actuator device comprising:
an electrostrictive actuator element disposed on the rear side of the mirror body, the electrostrictive actuator element configured to produce mechanical stress in the mirror body to deform the mirror surface depending on an electrical drive voltage;
an electrostrictive sensor element configured to output a sensor signal depending on a deformation of the electrostrictive sensor element,

wherein:
the electrostrictive actuator comprises a first electrode, a second electrode and an electrostrictive material; and
each of the first electrode, the second electrode and the electrostrictive material is arranged on the same side of the mirror body; and

wherein at least one of the following holds:
i) the electrostrictive sensor element directly adjoins the electrostrictive actuator element;
ii) the electrostrictive sensor element is supported by the rear side of the mirror body and is separated from the mirror body by at least the electrostrictive actuator element; and
iii) the electrostrictive sensor element is configured to at least partially transfer the mechanical stress produced by the electrostrictive actuator element to the mirror body.

2. The optical system of claim 1 , further comprising a closed-loop control unit configured to control the drive voltage depending on the sensor signal so that a predetermined mechanical stress in the mirror body is achieved.

3. The optical system of claim 2 , wherein the actuator device comprises an assignment unit configured to assign a value of the output sensor signal to an achieved deformation of the mirror surface based on a calibration measurement, and the closed-loop control unit is configured to control the drive voltage depending on the assigned value and a predetermined deformation of the mirror surface.

4. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive actuator element and the electrostrictive sensor element define a monolithic element.

5. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein, in a direction along a surface normal of the mirror surface, the electrostrictive sensor element is at least partially between the electrostrictive actuator element and the mirror body.

6. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive actuator element and the electrostrictive sensor element each comprises a layer comprising electrostrictive material.

7. The optical system of claim 6 , wherein the electrostrictive actuator element comprises a plurality of layers comprising electrostrictive material, each layer comprises an assigned cathode and an assigned anode, and each layer is drivable with a respective drive voltage.

8. The optical system of claim 6 , wherein the electrostrictive actuator element and the electrostrictive sensor element define a layer stack comprising at least two layers.

9. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein:
the actuator device comprises at least two electrostrictive sensor elements;
material compositions of the at least two electrostrictive sensor elements differ from each other; and
each of the at least two electrostrictive sensor elements is configured to output a sensor signal.

10. The optical system of claim 9 , further comprising an ascertainment unit configured to ascertain a temperature in the mirror body depending on the sensor signals output by the at least two electrostrictive sensor elements.

11. The optical system of claim 9 , further comprising a measurement unit configured to apply a measurement alternating voltage to the at least two electrostrictive sensor elements to generate the sensor signals output by the electrorestrictive sensor elements, wherein a frequency of the measurement alternating voltage is different for each of the at least two electrostrictive sensor elements.

12. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein:
the actuator device comprises a plurality of M electrostrictive actuator elements;
the actuator device comprises a plurality of N electrorestrictive sensor elements;
M is an integer;
N is an integer; and
the electrostrictive actuator elements and the electrostrictive sensor elements are disposed in alternation.

13. The optical system of claim 1 , comprising a plurality of individually controllable actuator devices supported by the mirror.

14. An apparatus, comprising:
an optical system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the apparatus is a lithography apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , comprising:
an illumination system; and
a projection system.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the projection system comprises the optical system.

17. A method, comprising:
providing an optical system according to claim 1 ;
using the optical system to deform the mirror surface.

18. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive sensor element is disposed on the rear side of the mirror body.

19. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive actuator element is mechanically coupled to the rear side of the mirror body.

20. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive sensor element is mechanically coupled to the actuator element.

21. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive sensor element is mechanically coupled to the rear side of the mirror body.

22. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive actuator element comprises a piezoelectric material.

23. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive actuator element is entirely disposed on the rear face of the mirror body.

24. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the first electrode is between the mirror body and the electrostrictive material.

25. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the electrostrictive material is different from the mirror body.

26. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein:
the actuator device comprises a mirror carrier; and
each of the first electrode, the second electrode, and the electrostrictive material is between the mirror body and the mirror carrier.

27. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror body and the electrostrictive material are separate components.

28. The optical system of claim 1 , wherein the mirror body and the actuator device are separate components.

29. A method of operating an optical system comprising a mirror which comprises a mirror body and a mirror surface, the mirror body comprising a front side and a rear side opposite facing away from the front side, the mirror surface being disposed on the front side of the mirror body, the optical system further comprising an actuator device, the method comprising:
driving an electrostrictive actuator element of the actuator device with an electrical drive voltage so that a mechanical stress is produced in the mirror body and the mirror surface deforms, the electrostrictive actuator element being disposed on the rear side of the mirror body;
using an electrorestrictive sensor element of the actuator device to detect a sensor signal depending on a deformation of the electrostrictive sensor element; and
determining the deformation of the mirror surface depending on the detected sensor signal,

Assignees

• Zeiss Carl Smt Gmbh

Inventors

• Manger Matthias
• Raab Markus

Classifications

• G03F7/70891

  Temperature · CPC title

• G03F7/7085

  Detection arrangement, e.g. detectors of apparatus alignment possibly mounted on wafers, exposure dose, photo-cleaning flux, stray light, thermal load · CPC title

• G03F7/70825

  Mounting of individual elements, e.g. mounts, holders or supports (workpiece or mask holders G03F7/707) · CPC title

• G02B5/0891

  Ultraviolet [UV] mirrors (apparatus for microlithography exposure G03F7/70; X-ray multilayer structures G21K1/06) · CPC title

• G02B26/0825

  the reflecting element being a flexible sheet or membrane, e.g. for varying the focus (flexible mirrors for cosmetic use A45D42/24) · CPC title