Method for aligning a mirror of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus

1. A method for aligning a mirror of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, wherein the mirror comprises a plurality of mirror segments, said method comprising:

projecting a beam towards the mirror comprising the plurality of mirror segments;

generating an aerial image from a combination of a first wavefront of a first partial beam reflected at a first mirror segment of the mirror and a second wavefront of a second partial beam reflected at a second mirror segment of the mirror; and

aligning the first mirror segment with the second mirror segment in accordance with an evaluation of the aerial image, wherein distances of the mirror segments from respective predetermined, hypothetical surfaces in a direction of the respective surface normals are less than λ/10 at each point on the mirror segments, where λ denotes an operating wavelength of the mirror.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the distances of the mirror segments from the predetermined hypothetical surfaces in the direction of the respective surface normals is less than λ/100 at each point on the mirror segments.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

determining a stray light component in the aerial image;

wherein said aligning comprises aligning the first mirror segment and the second mirror segment in relation to one another in accordance with the determined stray light component.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising replacing at least one of the mirror segments prior to said generating and said aligning.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said generating and said aligning are performed during an assembling of the mirror.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said generating and said aligning at least partly compensate for an imaging aberration of the microlithographic projection exposure apparatus.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the mirror is configured for an operating wavelength of less than 200 nm.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the mirror is configured for an operating wavelength of less than 30 nm.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

generating further aerial images from further respective wavefronts reflected at further mirror segments; and

aligning the further mirror segments in relation to the first mirror segment and/or the second mirror segment, to produce the aligned mirror.

10. A method for aligning a mirror of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, wherein the mirror comprises a plurality of mirror segments, said method comprising:

projecting a beam towards the mirror comprising the plurality of mirror segments;

generating an aerial image from a combination of a first wavefront of a first partial beam reflected at a first mirror segment of the mirror and a second wavefront of a second partial beam reflected at a second mirror segment of the mirror; and

aligning the first mirror segment with the second mirror segment in accordance with an evaluation of the aerial image, wherein distances of the mirror segments from respective predetermined, hypothetical surfaces in a direction of the respective surface normals are less than λ/10 at each point on the mirror segments, where λ denotes an operating wavelength of the mirror,

wherein projecting the beam towards the mirror comprises using electromagnetic radiation at a first wavelength for a pre-aligning and, subsequent to the pre-aligning, using electromagnetic radiation at a second wavelength, which is shorter than the first wavelength for a fine aligning.

11. A method for aligning a mirror of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, wherein the mirror comprises a plurality of mirror segments, said method comprising:

projecting a beam towards the mirror comprising the plurality of mirror segments;

generating an aerial image from a combination of a first wavefront of a first partial beam reflected at a first mirror segment of the mirror and a second wavefront of a second partial beam reflected at a second mirror segment of the mirror; and

aligning the first mirror segment with the second mirror segment in accordance with an evaluation of the aerial image, wherein distances of the mirror segments from respective predetermined, hypothetical surfaces in a direction of the respective surface normals are less than λ/10 at each point on the mirror segments, where λ denotes an operating wavelength of the mirror,

wherein generating the aerial image comprises:

arranging a scintillator in an optical path of the first wavefront and the second wavefront to form a scintillated beam;

arranging a magnifying imaging optical unit in the beam path of the scintillated beam to form a magnified beam; and

arranging a charge coupled device camera in the magnified beam to generate the aerial image.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the distances of the mirror segments from the predetermined hypothetical surfaces in the direction of the respective surface normals is less than λ/100 at each point on the mirror segments.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising:

determining a stray light component in the aerial image;

wherein said aligning comprises aligning the first mirror segment and the second mirror segment in relation to one another in accordance with the determined stray light component.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising replacing at least one of the mirror segments prior to said generating and said aligning.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said generating and said aligning are performed during an assembling of the mirror.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said generating and said aligning at least partly compensate for an imaging aberration of the microlithographic projection exposure apparatus.

17. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the mirror is configured for an operating wavelength of less than 200 nm.

18. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the mirror is configured for an operating wavelength of less than 30 nm.

19. The method as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising:

generating further aerial images from further respective wavefronts reflected at further mirror segments; and

aligning the further mirror segments in relation to the first mirror segment and/or the second mirror segment, to produce the aligned mirror.