Charged particle beam exposure apparatus

• US 7,692,166 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2007
• Issued: 04/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.), Hitachi High-Tech Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Yoda, Haruo, Muraki, Masato
• Primary Examiner(s): Berman; Jack I
• Application Number:
  US11/762,182
• Publication Number:
  US 20080067403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,028 Days
• Field of Search: 250/492.22
• US Class Current: 250/492.22
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 40/00 Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/043 Beam blanking
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/24507 Intensity, dose or other characteristics of particle beams or electromagnetic radiation
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/3045 Deflection calibration deflecting in general H01J2237/15; specific to material treating H01J2237/30483
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/30455 Correction during exposure
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/30477 Beam diameter
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 2237/30483 Scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/304 Controlling tubes by information coming from the objects or from the beam, e.g. correction signals
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3174 Particle-beam lithography, e.g. electron beam lithography

Abstract

An exposure apparatus which draws a pattern on a substrate with a charged particle beam is disclosed. The exposure apparatus includes a detector which detects a charged particle beam, a deflector which deflects the charged particle beam to scan the substrate or the detector with the charged particle beam, and a controller which controls the deflector to scan each of a plurality of scanning ranges on the detector with the charged particle beam, and calculates, on the basis of the charged particle beam amount detected by the detector upon scanning the plurality of scanning ranges, the intensity distribution of the charged particle beam which strikes the detector.

Claims

1. An exposure apparatus which draws a pattern on a substrate with a charged particle beam, comprising:

a detector configured to detect a charged particle beam;

a deflector configured to deflect the charged particle beam to scan the substrate or said detector with the charged particle beam; and

a controller configured to control said deflector to scan each of a plurality of scanning ranges on said detector with the charged particle beam, and calculates, based on charged particle beam amounts detected by said detector upon scanning the plurality of scanning ranges, an intensity distribution of the charged particle beam which strikes said detector.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a blanker configured to control whether to allow the charged particle beam to strike the substrate or said detector,

wherein said controller controls an operation of said blanker in accordance with a dose pattern including a plurality of pulses, and controls said blanker in accordance with one dose pattern for the plurality of scanning ranges to calculate one intensity distribution corresponding to the one dose pattern.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a blanker configured to control whether to allow the charged particle beam to strike the substrate or said detector,

wherein said controller controls an operation of said blanker in accordance with a dose pattern including a plurality of pulses, and repeatedly executes, a process of controlling said blanker in accordance with one dose pattern for the plurality of scanning ranges to calculate one intensity distribution corresponding to the one dose pattern, while changing the dose pattern.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said controller calculates information indicating a relationship between the dose pattern and the intensity distribution based on a result of the process performed for a plurality of dose patterns.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of dose patterns are determined such that patterns having different line widths are drawn on said detector.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said controller calculates, based on the intensity distribution, a line width of a pattern to be formed on the substrate with the charged particle beam.

7. A device manufacturing method characterized by comprising steps of:

drawing a pattern on a resist on a substrate using an exposure apparatus defined in claim 1; and

developing the resist.

8. A method of measuring a line width of a pattern formed by an exposure apparatus which draws the pattern on a substrate with a charged particle beam, the exposure apparatus including a detector which detects a charged particle beam, and a deflector which deflects the charged particle beam to scan the substrate or the detector with the charged particle beam, the method comprising steps of:

controlling the deflector to scan each of a plurality of scanning ranges on the detector with the charged particle beam, and calculating, based on charged particle beam amounts detected by the detector upon scanning the plurality of scanning ranges, an intensity distribution of the charged particle beam which strikes the detector; and

calculating, based on the intensity distribution, a line width of a pattern to be formed on the substrate with the charged particle beam.