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AssigneeNikon Corporation
InventorsTakeshi Yamaguchi, Shinichi Kojima
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Charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography apparatus and methods are disclosed that employ a segmented reticle in which the pattern defined by the reticle is divided into multiple subfields, and each subfield is subdivided into multiple subregions each constituting a respective “group” of subregions. During exposure of the pattern from the reticle to a sensitive substrate using a charged particle beam, a charged-particle illumination beam is directed in sequence to each of the groups. At each group, the illumination beam is directed to expose the respective subregions in the group in a predetermined order before directing the illumination beam to a subsequent group. Direction of the illumination from one group to the next can be performed using a first deflector, and direction of the illumination beam from one subregion to the next in a group can be performed using a second deflector.
In a method for performing charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography in which a region on a pattern-defining reticle, divided into multiple subfields, is illuminated with an illumination beam to produce an image of the illuminated region as projected on a sensitive substrate, a method for exposing the subfields, comprising:
A charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithographic exposure apparatus that exposes a pattern, defined by a segmented reticle divided into multiple subfields each defining a respective portion of the pattern, onto a sensitive substrate using a charged particle beam so as to form respective transfer images of the subfields on the sensitive substrate, the apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.