An interferometer measures the change in distance between a reference point and a movable point by measuring the change in optical path length between the two points. The change in the optical path length is measured by counting the number of fringes in an interference pattern caused by a measurement beam reflected from the movable point and a reference beam that follows a fixed path.
The optical path length (OPL) is the product of the length of the beam's path and the refractive index of the medium through which the beam passes. Generally, the OPL is made up of a number of segments through air, which has a low refractive index, and a number of segments through glass, or some other medium of high refractive index.
If the OPL changes due to the effects of a change in temperature on the refractive index of the optical elements of the measuring instrument, the instrument will register an erroneous distance change, just as if the distance to be measured had changed.
Early efforts to eliminate thermally induced errors were directed to the largest source of error, the mechanical supports for the optics. To compensate for temperature variations, the supports were arranged so the change in position of the optical components in the reference beam path was the same as the change for the components in the measurement beam path.
Recently, interferometer instruments have been used in applications demanding increased measurement accuracy, for example wafer steppers for large scale integrated circuits. This has led to a need to further compensate for thermally induced errors.
One proposed solution, is described in co-pending U.S. application Ser No. 604,702, "Minimum Deadpath Interferometer and Dilatometer", filed Apr. 27, 1984 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,574 and assigned in common with this application. The device disclosed incorporates interferometer optics with a common path for the reference and measurement beams. With the beams following the same path through the optics, changes in either the refractive index or the dimensions of the optical elements affect the OPL of both beams equally. This technique is particularly suitable for differential interferometers. However, it requires complex optics, which lower the optical efficiency of the instrument and are relatively expensive.
An object of this invention is to provide a high thermal stability interferometer that is relatively low cost, has high optical efficiency and less complex optics, and is easy to align and use.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention compensates for changes in temperature by incorporating optics in which the reference and measurement beams follow different but optically equivalent paths through optical elements that are in thermal equilibrium. That is, the path lengths through the high refractive index medium of the optics are the same length, but do not follow the same path. Because the beams are not constrained to follow the same path, fewer optical elements are needed and shorter OPLs can be used resulting in less complexity, better optical efficiency, easier alignment and lower cost.