Liquid jet and recovery system for immersion lithography

A liquid jet and recovery system for an immersion lithography apparatus that projects an image pattern onto a workpiece through an optical element disposed opposite said workpiece, an exposure region being defined between said optical element and said workpiece, said liquid jet and recovery system comprising:nfluid-supply arrays of nozzles with openings that surround and are proximally located to said exposure region;fluid-recovery arrays of nozzles, surrounding said fluid-supply arrays of nozzles; anda fluid controlling device that causes a fluid to be supplied through selected one or more of said fluid-supply arrays of nozzles into said exposure region such that said fluid contacts both said workpiece and said optical element for immersion lithography and that causes recovery of said fluid from said exposure region through selected one or more of said fluid-recovery arrays of nozzles.

A method of immersion lithography that projects an image pattern onto a workpiece through an optical element disposed opposite said workpiece, an exposure region being defined between said optical element and said workpiece, said method comprising the steps of:ndisposing fluid-supply arrays of nozzles with openings so as to surround said exposure region from all sides and that are proximally located to said exposure region;disposing fluid-recovery arrays of nozzles so as to surround said fluid-supply arrays of nozzles; andsupplying a fluid through selected one or more of said fluid-supply arrays of nozzles into said exposure region such that said fluid contacts both said workpiece and said optical element for immersion lithography and recovering said fluid from said exposure region through selected one or more of said fluid-recovery arrays of nozzles.

An immersion lithography apparatus that projects an image pattern onto a workpiece, said immersion lithography apparatus comprising:na reticle stage that retains a reticle;a working stage that retains said workpiece;a projection optical system including an illumination source and an optical element disposed opposite said workpiece for projecting said image pattern from said reticle onto said workpiece through said optical element, an exposure region being defined between said optical element and said workpiece;fluid-supply arrays of nozzles with openings that surround and are proximally located to said exposure region;fluid-recovery arrays of nozzles surrounding said fluid-supply arrays of nozzles; anda fluid controlling device that causes a fluid to be supplied through selected one or more of said fluid-supply arrays of nozzles into said exposure region such that said fluid contacts both said workpiece and said optical element for immersion lithography and that causes recovery of said fluid from said exposure region through selected one or more of said fluid-recovery arrays of nozzles.

An apparatus comprising:na stage that holds a workpiece;a reticle stage that holds a reticle that defines an image;a projection system including an optical element, the projection system projects the image defined by the reticle onto an exposure region on the workpiece, there being a gap between the optical element and the workpiece;a set of source nozzles arranged adjacent to the gap, the set of source nozzles provide immersion fluid into the gap such that the immersion fluid contacts both the workpiece and the optical element; anda set of recovery nozzles arranged adjacent to the gap, the set of recovery nozzles recover the immersion fluid exiting the gap,wherein the recovery nozzles recover the immersion fluid from a recovery zone that surrounds the exposure region, and the source nozzles are located between the exposure region and the recovery zone so as to be closer to the exposure region than is the recovery zone.

A method of immersion lithography for projecting an image pattern onto a workpiece through an optical element disposed opposite said workpiece with a gap between said optical element and said workpiece, an exposure region being defined between said optical element and said workpiece, said method comprising the steps of:nproviding a set of source nozzles arranged adjacent to the gap;providing a set of recovery nozzles arranged adjacent to the gap;supplying a fluid into the gap through the set of source nozzles such that the fluid contacts both the workpiece and the optical element for immersion lithography at least while the image pattern is being projected onto the workpiece through the optical element; andrecovering the immersion fluid exiting the gap through the set of recovery nozzles,wherein the recovery nozzles recover the immersion fluid from a recovery zone that surrounds the exposure region, and the source nozzles are located between the exposure region and the recovery zone so as to be closer to the exposure region than is the recovery zone.