Optical system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus

摘要

The invention relates to an optical system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, comprising at least one mirror arrangement having a plurality of mirror elements which are adjustable independently of one another for the purpose of changing an angular distribution of the light reflected by the mirror arrangement, and a polarization-influencing optical element, which generates, for impinging light having a constantly linear or a circular input polarization distribution, an output polarization distribution having a direction of polarization that varies continuously over the light beam cross section.

主权项

1. An optical system, comprising:
a mirror arrangement comprising a plurality of mirror elements, the plurality of mirror elements being adjustable independently relative to each other to change an angular distribution of light reflected by the mirror arrangement; and a polarization-influencing optical element configured so that, when light having a constantly linear polarization distribution or a circular input polarization distribution impinges on the polarization-influencing optical element, the polarization-influencing optical element generates a light beam having an output polarization distribution with a direction of polarization that varies continuously over a cross-section of the light beam, wherein:
the polarization-influencing optical element has a geometry selected from the group consisting of a plane-parallel geometry and a wedge-section-shaped geometry; andthe optical system is a microlithographic optical system.