Measurement of large low-order aberrations by using a series of through-focus Ronchigrams.

A method for measuring large aberrations up to second order (defocus, 2-fold astigmatism and axial coma), which uses a through-focus series of Ronchigrams, is proposed. The method is based on the principle that line-focus conditions in Ronchigrams can be locally detected and low-order aberrations can thereby be measured. The proposed method provides auto-tuning of large low-order aberration; in particular, iterative aberration measurement and correction reduce low-order aberrations from several thousand nanometers to less than a few hundred nanometers, which can be handled by conventional fine-aberration tuning methods.