ILLUMINATING OPTICS, ILLUMINATION METHOD, AND EXPOSURE METHOD AND DEVICE

摘要

These illuminating optics, which use light from a light source to illuminate a reticle surface, are provided with the following: a spatial light modulator that has a plurality of mirror elements arranged within a prescribed arrangement plane; a first polarization control system that is positioned upstream of said arrangement plane and controls the polarization-state distribution of light incident upon the mirror elements such that the ratio between vertical polarization (which is p polarization when the light is incident upon the arrangement plane) and horizontal polarization can be varied; and a second polarization control system that is positioned downstream of the arrangement plane and is capable of setting the polarization-state distribution of the light heading towards the reticle surface via the mirror elements to a distribution that includes a diagonal-polarization component. This allows a high degree of freedom with respect to polarization-state changes.