Alexander SEREBRIAKOV^*, Evgenii MAKSIMOV¹, Florian BOCIORT and Joseph BRAAT

Optics Research Group, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
¹P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Leninskiy pr. 53, Moscow 119991, Russia

(Received September 30, 2004; Accepted December 21, 2004)

Birefringence induced by spatial dispersion (BISD), also called intrinsic birefringence, can cause a serious deterioration of the optical imaging quality of deep UV lithographic objectives at wavelengths below 193 nm. Recently the mathematical formalism for analyzing those aspects of the BISD effect that are relevant for optical design has been published. In this paper we give an equivalent but simplified derivation of these results. This mathematical formalism is then applied to optical system design and a compensation strategy is discussed. An example of an optical system is given where the phase retardation caused by the BISD effect has been corrected.

Key words: lithography, birefringence, crystal optics, optical system design

^*E-mail address: a.serebriakov@tnw.tudelft.nl