| 摘要 |
The proposed EUV/SX lithography apparatus (100) allows providing an atmosphere containing atomic nitrogen inside the apparatus, in particular during operation of the lithography apparatus to avoid degradation of the reflective optical element (113,121,122,130,141,142) due to oxidation or carbon contamination. Through the nitrogen inlet (123,143) either atomic nitrogen or molecular nitrogen can be provided, the molecular nitrogen being split into atomic nitrogen by irradiation with EUV/SX radiation during operation of the apparatus. The atomic nitrogen will react with the oxygen from water dissociated by irradiation with EUV/SX radiation during operation to volatile nitrogen oxides. Depending on the surface material of the reflective optical element (113,121,122,130,141,142), the atomic nitrogen can also react with it to form a thin layer of nitride, which is often resistant against oxidation.
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