摘要 |
An illumination optical apparatus and projection exposure apparatus capable of reducing a light quantity loss when a mask is illuminated with a polarized illumination light. An illumination optical system for illuminating a reticle with an illumination light and a projection optical system for projecting the pattern image of the reticle onto a wafer are provided. An illumination light emitted from an exposure light source in a linearly polarized state in the illumination optical system passes through first and second birefringent members having different fast axis directions and is converted into a polarized state that is substantially linearly polarized in a circumferential direction with the optical axis as the center in an almost specific annular area, and them illuminates the reticle under an annular illuminating condition after passing through a fly-eye lens.
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