Exposure method and apparatus, and method for fabricating device with light amount distribution having light larger in four areas

Abstract

An exposure method and apparatus for illuminating a pattern with an illumination system to expose a substrate through a projection system. The pattern is illuminated with illumination light with a light amount distribution in which an amount of light is larger in a pair of first areas and a pair of second areas than in an area other than the first and second areas on a pupil plane of the illumination system. The pair of the first areas being arranged outside an optical axis, the pair of the second areas being arranged on ten same straight line as the pair of the first areas are arranged on, and the pair of the second areas being arranged outside the pair of the first areas.

1 . An illumination optical apparatus which illuminates a pattern on a mask with illumination light, the illumination optical apparatus comprising:
 a diffractive element that diffracts the illumination light;   an optical integrator;   a lens arranged between the diffractive element and the optical integrator that distributes the illumination light diffracted by the diffractive element, through the optical integrator, onto a pupil plane of the illumination optical apparatus; and   a polarization setting member arranged between the lens and the optical integrator, that sets a polarization state of the illumination light diffracted by the diffractive element so that the polarization state of the illumination light on the pupil plane is set into a polarization state of which a main component is a linear polarization having a polarization direction substantially coincident with a circumference direction about an optical axis of the illumination optical apparatus.