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Illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus

US8928859B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-8928859-B2
Application numberUS-201213564419-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateAug 1, 2012
Priority dateMar 2, 2007
Publication dateJan 6, 2015
Grant dateJan 6, 2015

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  1. Title

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  2. Abstract

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  3. Assignees and inventors

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  4. Key dates

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  5. First independent claim

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  6. CPC / IPC classifications

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  7. Citations and related patents

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Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

The disclosure relates to an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus. The illumination system can include a depolarizer which in conjunction with a light mixing system disposed downstream in the light propagation direction at least partially causes effective depolarization of polarized light impinging on the depolarizer. The illumination system can also include a microlens array which is arranged upstream of the light mixing system in the light propagation direction. The microlens array can include a plurality of microlenses arranged with a periodicity. The depolarizer can be configured so that a contribution afforded by interaction of the depolarizer with the periodicity of the microlens array to a residual polarization distribution occurring in a pupil plane arranged downstream of the microlens array in the light propagation direction has a maximum degree of polarization of not more than 5%.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. An illumination system, comprising: a depolariser; a light mixing system disposed downstream of the depolarizer in a light propagation direction; and a member arranged upstream of the light mixing system in the light propagation direction, the member comprising a plurality of elements arranged with a periodicity; wherein during use: the depolarizer in conjunction with the light mixing system at least partially causes effective depolarisation of polaris…

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Frequently asked questions

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What does patent US8928859B2 cover?
The disclosure relates to an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus. The illumination system can include a depolarizer which in conjunction with a light mixing system disposed downstream in the light propagation direction at least partially causes effective depolarization of polarized light impinging on the depolarizer. The illumination system can also include …
Who is the assignee on this patent?
Fiolka Damian, Maul Manfred, Schwab Markus, and 3 more
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification G02B27/286. Mapped technology areas include Physics.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Jan 06 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).