Method for operating an optical system, and optical system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2026093089-A1
Application number	US-202519410650-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 5, 2025
Priority date	Jun 23, 2023
Publication date	Apr 2, 2026
Grant date	—

Abstract

An optical system, such as in a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, comprises at least one mirror having an optical active surface and a mirror substrate made of a mirror substrate material. At least one cooling channel is provided in the mirror substrate through which a cooling fluid with a variably settable cooling-fluid temperature can flow. In a method of operating an optical system, the cooling-fluid temperature is set on the basis of an existing deviation between an actual value for the average zero-crossing temperature of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the mirror substrate material and a predefined setpoint for this average zero-crossing temperature. The cooling-fluid temperature is controlled during operation of the optical system. The control is effected on the basis of a feedforward model.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of operating an optical system, the optical system comprising a mirror, the mirror comprising an optical active surface and a mirror substrate, the mirror substrate comprising a mirror substrate material, the mirror substrate comprising a cooling channel configured to have a cooling fluid flow therethrough, the method comprising:
setting a temperature of the cooling fluid based on an existing deviation between an actual value for the average zero-crossing temperature of a coefficient of thermal expansion of the mirror substrate material and a predefined setpoint for the average zero-crossing temperature of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the mirror substrate material; and controlling the temperature of the cooling fluid during operation of the optical system using a of a feedforward model.

2 . The method of claim 1 , comprising setting the temperature of the cooling fluid to at least partially compensate for a deviation-related contribution to thermally induced wavefront aberrations during operation of the optical system.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the temperature of the cooling fluid comprises taking into account a predefined usage scenario of the optical system.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the cooling fluid is set with regard to a reticle used during operation of the optical system.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature of the cooling fluid is with regard to an illumination setting used during operation of the optical system.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cooling-fluid temperature is set with regard to a light source power used during operation of the optical system.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying heat energy to the mirror using a heating device.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the temperature of the cooling fluid is based on a determination of a variable characteristic of: i) a thermal load acting on the mirror; or ii) a current heating state of the mirror.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein controlling the temperature of the cooling fluid is based on measured values of the temperature of the cooling fluid.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein controlling the temperature of the cooling fluid is based on sensor values supplied by a temperature sensor on the mirror.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mirror is configured to be used at an operating wavelength of less than 30 nm.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optical system comprises an illumination device of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, or the optical system comprises a projection lens of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus.

13 . The method of claim 1 , comprising setting the temperature of the cooling fluid to at least partially compensate for a deviation-related contribution to thermally induced wavefront aberrations during operation of the optical system, wherein setting the temperature of the cooling fluid comprises taking into account a predefined usage scenario of the optical system.

14 . The method of claim 1 , comprising setting the temperature of the cooling fluid to at least partially compensate for a deviation-related contribution to thermally induced wavefront aberrations during operation of the optical system, wherein the temperature of the cooling fluid is set with regard to a reticle used during operation of the optical system.

15 . The method of claim 1 , comprising setting the temperature of the cooling fluid to at least partially compensate for a deviation-related contribution to thermally induced wavefront aberrations during operation of the optical system, wherein the temperature of the cooling fluid is with regard to an illumination setting used during operation of the optical system.

16 . The method of claim 1 , comprising setting the temperature of the cooling fluid to at least partially compensate for a deviation-related contribution to thermally induced wavefront aberrations during operation of the optical system, wherein the cooling-fluid temperature is set with regard to a light source power used during operation of the optical system.

17 . The method of claim 1 , comprising setting the temperature of the cooling fluid to at least partially compensate for a deviation-related contribution to thermally induced wavefront aberrations during operation of the optical system, wherein the method further comprises applying heat energy to the mirror using a heating device.

18 . The method of claim 1 , comprising setting the temperature of the cooling fluid to at least partially compensate for a deviation-related contribution to thermally induced wavefront aberrations during operation of the optical system, wherein controlling the temperature of the cooling fluid is based on a determination of a variable characteristic of: i) a thermal load acting on the mirror; or ii) a current heating state of the mirror.

19 . An optical system, comprising:
a mirror comprising an optical active surface and a mirror substrate, the mirror substrate comprising a mirror substrate material, the mirror substrate material comprising cooling channel configured to have a cooling fluid flow therethrough temperature can flow; and a device configured to set a temperature of the cooling fluid based on an existing deviation between an actual value of an average zero-crossing temperature of a coefficient of thermal expansion of the mirror substrate material and a predefined setpoint of the average zero-crossing temperature of the coefficient of thermal expansion of the mirror substrate material, wherein the optical system is configured to control the temperature of the cooling fluid based on a feedforward model.

20 . The optical system of claim 19 , wherein the optical system comprises an illumination device of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, or the optical system comprises a projection lens of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus.

Assignees

• Zeiss Carl Smt Gmbh

Inventors

• Linten Robin
• Baer Norman
• Lorenz Maike
• Von Hodenberg Martin

Classifications

• G02B7/1815 Primary

  with cooling or heating systems (cooling arrangements for laser mirrors H01S3/0401) · CPC title

• G03F7/70891 Primary

  Temperature · CPC title