New optical imaging method for lithography and high-resolution inspections

We conducted studies of some optical imaging systems having super resolution pupil functions for 0.18 mu m to 0.1 mu m lithography as well as for high resolution inspections. The optical systems with these aperture stops have high transmissivity to illumination light beam if appropriate illumination optical systems are used, and have large depth of focus. When this optical imaging method is applied to optical inspection systems, the resolutions of these optical systems can be doubled: The theory of this new optical imaging method is discussed along with the theory and design of illumination optical system. The imaging method will be easy to implement, and can be used for steppers, direct writing lithography, and confocal microscopes.