Method for displacing at least one optical component

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9851554-B2
Application number	US-201615210533-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 14, 2016
Priority date	Feb 14, 2014
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

A method for displacing an optical component is disclosed, in which the electrical power maximally required when displacing the component is less than the sum of the maximum electrical powers of the at least two actuators used for the displacement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
providing a mechatronic system comprising an optical element that is displaceable via at least two electrical actuators, the optical component having at least two degrees of freedom of displacement;
predefining a maximum power permitted to be consumed by all of the at least two electrical actuators together at an arbitrary point in time during the displacement of the optical component, the maximum power being less than a sum of maximum powers of all the individual electrical actuators of the at least two electrical actuators;
ascertaining a drive protocol for displacing the optical component from a first position to a second position along a trajectory while complying with the predefined maximum power; and
displacing the optical component via the at least two electrical actuators according to the driving protocol.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein ascertaining the driving protocol comprises:
predefining the trajectory of the optical component;
predefining or ascertaining a driving scheme for the optical component depending on the trajectory; and
ascertaining a temporal sequence of the displacement of the optical component.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a direction of the trajectory before beginning of the displacement process.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trajectory points in different directions at at least two points.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trajectory leads through a zero position of the optical component.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises sequentially activating different electrical actuators of the at least two electrical actuators.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising ascertaining an activation scheme in which a supply voltage of an actuator driver amplifier is adaptively adapted.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mechatronic system comprises a plurality of optical components, and each optical component is displaceable via at least two electrical actuators.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the driving protocol comprises taking account of a possible storage of electrical energy in a local store and/or an electromagnetic crosstalk between electrical actuator devices of at least two optical components.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a microlithography illumination optical system comprises the optical component.

11. An optical assembly, comprising:
a mechatronic system, comprising:
an optical component having at least two degrees of freedom of displacement; and
at least two electrical actuator devices configured to displace the optical component from a first position to a second position along a trajectory; and

a control device configured to control displacement of the optical element via the at least two electrical actuator devices,
wherein:
the optical assembly is configured so that the optical component is displaceable via controlled activation of the at least two electrical actuator devices into a predefined set of displacement positions and/or along a predefined set of trajectories;
the mechatronic system is configured so that a maximum total power consumption of the at least two electrical actuator devices when displacing the optical component into the predefined displacement positions and/or along the predefined trajectories is at most equal in magnitude to a predefined maximum power; and
the maximum power is less than a sum of maximum powers of all the individual electrical actuators of the at least two electrical actuators.

12. The optical assembly of claim 11 , wherein:
the optical element has at least two rotation axes;
the at least two electrical actuator devices have at least two actuation axes; and
the rotation axes are rotated by an angle greater than 0° relative to the actuation axes.

13. The optical assembly of claim 12 , wherein the angle by which the rotation axes are rotated relative to the actuation axes is configured to minimize the electrical power to set a displacement position which requires a maximum mechanical active power.

14. The optical assembly of claim 11 , wherein the optical element is configured so that its zero position minimizes the peak electrical power required to set all the predefined displacement positions of the optical element.

15. The optical assembly of claim 11 , further comprising a storage device configured to locally store electrical energy.

16. An illumination optical unit, comprising:
a facet mirror; and
an optical assembly according to claim 11 ,
wherein the illumination optical unit is a microlithography illumination optical unit.

17. An illumination system, comprising:
a radiation source; and
an illumination optical unit, comprising:
a facet mirror; and
an optical assembly according to claim 11 ,

wherein the illumination system is a microlithography illumination system.

18. An apparatus, comprising:
an illumination system, comprising:
a radiation source; and
an illumination optical unit, comprising:
a facet mirror; and
an optical assembly according to claim 11 ; and

a projection optical unit,
wherein apparatus is a microlithography projection exposure apparatus.

19. A method of using a microlithography projection exposure apparatus comprising an illumination optical unit and a projection optical unit, the method comprising:
using the illumination optical unit to illuminate at least some structures of a reticle; and
using the projection optical unit to project at least some of the illuminated structures of the reticle onto a light-sensitive material,
wherein the illumination optical unit comprises an optical assembly according to claim 11 .

Assignees

• Zeiss Carl Smt Gmbh

Inventors

• Krone Stefan
• Berger Lars

Classifications

• G02B27/0012

  Optical design, e.g. procedures, algorithms, optimisation routines · CPC title

• G02B7/1828

  using magnetic means · CPC title

• G02B26/0816 Primary

  by means of one or more reflecting elements · CPC title

• G03F7/702

  Reflective illumination, i.e. reflective optical elements other than folding mirrors, e.g. extreme ultraviolet [EUV] illumination systems · CPC title

• G03F7/70116

  Off-axis setting using a programmable means, e.g. liquid crystal display [LCD], digital micromirror device [DMD] or pupil facets · CPC title