US 12,346,036 B2
Alignment system and method for aligning an object having an alignment mark
Hamed Sadeghian Marnani, Rotterdam (NL); Taras Piskunov, Schiedam (NL); and Erik Tabak, Rotterdam (NL)
Assigned to Nearfield Instruments B.V., Rotterdam (NL)
Appl. No. 18/037,939
Filed by Nearfield Instruments B.V., Rotterdam (NL)
PCT Filed Nov. 19, 2021, PCT No. PCT/NL2021/050711
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 19, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/108449, PCT Pub. Date May 27, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2026937 (NL), filed on Nov. 20, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0004321 A1, Jan. 4, 2024
Int. Cl. G03F 9/00 (2006.01)
CPC G03F 9/7088 (2013.01) [G03F 9/7065 (2013.01); G03F 9/7073 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An alignment system for aligning an object, the system comprising,
an imaging sensor with sensor elements;
an imaging system having an object plane and an imaging plane, and comprising one or more optical components configured to receive light from at least one object marker defining a respective object position of the object in the object plane, and to project an image of the object marker at a marker position onto the imaging sensor, thereby illuminating a first subset of the sensor elements in the imaging plane, wherein the marker position in the imaging plane correlates with the object position in the object plane;
a reference light source configured to project at least one reference marker at a reference position onto the imaging sensor, thereby illuminating a second subset of the sensor elements, wherein the reference position in the imaging plane is independent of the object position in the object plane; and
a processor configured to
determine, based on image output from the imaging sensor, the first subset of the sensor elements and the second subset of the sensor elements illuminated by the image of the object marker and by the reference marker, respectively,
determine the marker position based on the first subset of the sensor elements,
determine the reference position based on the second subset of the sensor elements, and
calculate, the object position based on the marker position relative to the reference position.