Electron beam exposure apparatus, electron beam exposing method, semiconductor element manufacturing method, and pattern error detection method

An electron beam exposing method of exposing a wafer by an electron beam, comprising steps of:

• writing exposure data, which is data of an exposure pattern to be formed on the wafer, in a first buffer memory;
• writing the exposure data in a second buffer memory;
• applying the electron beam to the wafer based on the exposure data output from the first buffer memory;
• and
• comparing the exposure data output from the first buffer memory with the exposure data output from the second buffer memory.

A semiconductor element manufacturing method of exposing a wafer by an electron beam and manufacturing a semiconductor element, comprising steps of:

• writing exposure data, which is data of an exposure pattern to be formed on the wafer, in a first buffer memory;
• writing the exposure data in a second buffer memory;
• applying the electron beam to the wafer based on the exposure data output from the first buffer memory;
• and
• comparing the exposure data output from the first buffer memory with the exposure data output from the second buffer memory.

An exposure apparatus for writing a desired exposure pattern to a wafer, comprising:

• a buffer memory storing thereon exposure data, which is data of an exposure pattern to be formed on the wafer;
• a comparing section for comparing a first exposure data output from said buffer memory based on a first control signal for exposing a first area with a second exposure data output from said buffer memory based on a second control signal for exposing a second area where the same exposure pattern as the first area is to be written;
• and
• an error detection section for detecting an error of the exposure pattern formed to the wafer based on the comparison result by said comparing section.

A pattern error detection method of detecting an error of an exposure pattern formed to a wafer, comprising steps of:

• exposing the wafer using a first exposure data output from buffer memory based on a first control signal for exposing a first area;
• exposing the wafer using a second exposure data output from the buffer memory based on a second control signal for exposing a second area where the same exposure pattern as the first area is to be written;
• comparing the first exposure data with the second exposure data;
• and
• detecting the error of the exposure pattern formed to the wafer based on a comparison result in said comparison step.

An exposure apparatus for writing a desired exposure pattern to a wafer, comprising:

• a buffer memory storing thereon exposure data, which is data of the exposure pattern to be formed on the wafer;
• an expect data generating section for generating a first expect data, which is an expected value of the exposure data to be output from said buffer memory based on a first control signal for exposing a first area;
• a comparing section for comparing a first exposure data output from said buffer memory based on the first control signal with the first expect data generated by said expect data generating section;
• an exposure section for exposing the wafer based on the first exposure data output from said buffer memory;
• and
• an error detection section for detecting an error of an exposure pattern formed to the wafer based on a comparison result by said comparing section.

A pattern error detection method of detecting an error of the exposure pattern formed to a wafer, comprising steps of:

• generating a first expect data, which is an expected value of exposure data to be output from buffer memory based on a first control signal for exposing a first area;
• comparing a first exposure data output from the buffer memory based on the first control signal with the first expect data generated in said expect data generation step;
• exposing the wafer based on the first exposure data output from the buffer memory;
• and
• detecting an error of the exposure pattern formed to the wafer based on a comparison result in said comparison step.