1. A vertical Hall sensor structure comprising:
a Hall effect region arranged between a first interface and a second interface of the Hall effect region;
a first contact, a second contact, a third contact, and a fourth contact, the first, second, third and fourth contacts being closer to the first interface than to the second interface and in contact with the Hall effect region, wherein an electrical resistance between the first and second contacts is substantially equal to an electrical resistance between the third and second contacts; and
a conductive layer closer to the second interface than to the first interface and in contact with the Hall effect region, the conductive layer comprising a higher conductivity than the Hall effect region;
wherein a resistance between the fourth contact and the conductive layer is lower than a resistance between the second contact and the conductive layer.
2. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, wherein the vertical Hall sensor structure is formed in a substrate with a first main surface, a second main surface and the Hall effect region arranged between the first and second main surfaces, wherein the first main surface is closer to the first and second interfaces than the second main surface.
3. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, wherein the first contact and the third contact are substantially equally spaced from the second contact.
4. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, wherein the individual contact areas of the first contact and of the third contact on the first interface are substantially equal.
5. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, wherein a conductivity of the first and third contacts is substantially identical.
6. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, wherein a resistance between the first contact and the fourth contact is substantially equal to a resistance between the third contact and the fourth contact.
7. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, wherein a contact area of the fourth contact on the first interface is larger than a contact area on the first interface of any of the first contact, the second contact and the third contact.
8. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, further comprising an electrical coupling structure arranged and configured to electrically couple the fourth contact to the buried layer to lower a resistance between the fourth contact and the buried layer compared with a resistance between the second contact and the buried layer.
9. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 8, wherein the electrical coupling structure comprises a well or a trench comprising a material with a higher conductivity than a material comprised in the Hall effect region.
10. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 9, wherein the material comprised in the well or trench comprises at least one of a highly doped semiconductor material and a metal.
11. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 1, further comprising a decoupling structure arranged between the fourth contact and any of the first, second and third contacts to at least partially electrically decouple the fourth contact from the first, second and third contacts.
12. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 11, wherein the decoupling structure comprises a material forming a pn-junction arranged and configured to be operated in a reverse-biased state.
13. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 12, wherein the pn-junction is in contact with the first interface.
14. The vertical Hall sensor structure according to claim 11, wherein the decoupling structure comprises a trench comprising a width along a direction between the fourth contact and any of the first, second and third contacts in a plane equal to or parallel to the main surface of the substrate, the width comprising at least 50% of a smallest distance between the first and second interfaces.
15. A vertical Halls sensor device comprising:
a vertical Hall sensor structure, the vertical Hall sensor structure comprising a Hall effect region arranged between a first interface and a second interface of the Hall effect region, a first contact, a second contact, a third contact, and a fourth contact, the first, second, third and fourth contacts being closer to the first interface than to the second interface and in contact with the Hall effect region, wherein an electrical resistance between the first and second contacts is substantially equal to an electrical resistance between the third and second contacts, and a conductive layer closer to the second interface than to the first interface and in contact with the Hall effect region, the conductive layer comprising a higher conductivity than the Hall effect region, wherein a resistance between the fourth contact and the conductive layer is lower than a resistance between the second contact and the conductive layer.
16. The vertical Hall sensor device according to claim 15, further comprising a second vertical Hall sensor structure, wherein each of the first, second, third and fourth contacts of the second vertical Hall sensor structure is coupled to exactly one contact of the first, second, third and fourth contacts of the second vertical Hall sensor structure during a measurement operation of the vertical Hall sensor device and vice versa.
17. The vertical Hall sensor device according to claim 16, wherein the second contact of the vertical Hall sensor structure is coupled to the fourth contact of the second vertical Hall sensor structure permanently, during all of the measurement operations of the vertical Hall sensor device or during at least one measurement operation of the vertical Hall sensor device.
18. The vertical Hall sensor device according to claim 16, wherein the vertical Hall sensor structure is configured to detect a magnetic field component along a first direction, wherein the second vertical Hall sensor structure is configured to detect a magnetic field component along a second direction, and wherein an angle between the first and second directions is either at most 10\xb0 or in a range between 80\xb0 and 100\xb0.
19. The vertical Hall sensor device according to claim 15, further comprising a first terminal, a second terminal, a third terminal and a fourth terminal, each terminal of the first, second, third and fourth terminals being coupled to exactly one contact of the first, second, third and fourth contacts of the vertical Hall sensor structure during a measurement operation of the vertical Hall sensor device.
20. A method comprising:
providing electrical energy to a vertical Hall sensor structure in a first phase of operation by a first pair of contacts of the vertical Hall sensor structure comprising a Hall effect region arranged between a first interface and a second interface of the Hall effect region, a first contact, a second contact, a third contact, and a fourth contact, the first, second, third and fourth contacts being closer to the first interface than to the second interface and in contact with the Hall effect region, wherein an electrical resistance between the first and second contacts is substantially equal to an electrical resistance between the third and second contacts, and a conductive layer closer to the second interface than to the first interface and in contact with the Hall effect region, the conductive layer comprising a higher conductivity than the Hall effect region, and wherein a resistance between the fourth contact and the conductive layer is lower than a resistance between the second contact and the conductive layer, wherein the first pair of contacts comprises the first contact and the third contact;
pensing a first magnetic-field sensitive signal at a second pair of contacts during the first phase of operation, wherein the second pair of contacts comprises the second contact and the fourth contact;
providing electrical energy to the vertical Hall sensor structure in a second phase of operation by the second pair of contacts of the vertical Hall sensor structure; and
sensing a second magnetic-field sensitive signal at the first pair of contacts during the second phase of operation.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A lithography device comprising:
an illumination system outputting an illumination light;
a mask having a reflectivity that varies in accordance with an angle of incidence of the illumination light on the mask, the mask thereby reflecting light with angle-dependent variations; and
a projection system receiving the light reflected by the mask;
wherein an intensity distribution of the illumination light is adjusted over the angle of incidence by the illumination system to at least partly counteract the angle-dependent variations of the light reflected by the mask.
2. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination light is in the extreme ultraviolet or the soft x-ray wavelength region.
3. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination system comprises a first optical element having a plurality of first grid elements, the first grid elements being selected to adjust the intensity distribution of the illumination light.
4. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination system comprises a first optical element having a plurality of first grid elements, and a second optical element having a plurality of second grid elements, the first and second grid elements being selected to adjust the intensity distribution of the illumination light.
5. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination system comprises a first optical element having a plurality of first grid elements, a second optical element having a plurality of second grid elements, and a filter that varies a radiation flux of the illumination light of a subset of at least one of the first and the second grid elements.
6. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the projection system produces a homogeneous scan-integrated field and pupil illumination in an image plane of the projection system over a given range of angles of the light reflected by the mask.
7. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the reflectivity by the mask of an upper marginal ray and the reflectivity by the mask of a lower marginal ray of a given illumination aperture are at least approximately equal.
8. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the illumination system comprises at least one optical element arranged in front of the mask in the beam path, so that pupil apodization effects are at least partly counteracted.
9. The lithography device according to claim 8, wherein the at least one optical element comprises at least one filter.
10. The lithography device according to claim 1, wherein the projection system comprises at least one optical element with a graduated multilayer coating.
11. A lithography device comprising:
an illumination system;
a mask; and
a projection system,
wherein the illumination system is configured to illuminate the mask inhomogeneously, so that pupil apodization effects are at least partly compensated.
12. The lithography device according to claim 11, wherein the illumination system comprises at least one optical element arranged in front of the mask in the beam path, so that the pupil apodization effects are at least partly compensated.
13. The lithography device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one optical element comprises at least one filter.
14. The lithography device according to claim 11, wherein the projection system comprises at least one optical element with a graduated multilayer coating.
15. The lithography device according to claim 11, wherein the illumination is in the extreme ultraviolet or the soft x-ray wavelength region.