# US 2022/0035969 A1 · Simulation method, simulation apparatus, film forming apparatus, article manufacturing method and non-transitory storage medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2022/0035969 A1 - Document ID: US20220035969A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/375,117 - Filed: 2021-07-14 - Published: 2022-02-03 - Earliest claimed: 2020-07-29 - Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Sentaro Aihara; Yuichiro Oguchi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20220035969A1 ## CPC - G06F 30/20: Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) - G03F 7/0002: {Lithographic processes using patterning methods other than those involving the exposure to radiation, e.g. by stamping} - G06F 30/25: using particle-based methods - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G03F: PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR; (phototypographic composing devices B41B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; electrophotography, sensitive layers or processes therefor G03G) ## Abstract The present invention provides a simulation method of predicting a behavior of a curable composition in a process of bringing a plurality of droplets of the curable composition arranged on a first member into contact with a second member and forming a film of the curable composition in a space between the first member and the second member, the method including for each of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition, obtaining, based on whether the droplet merges with an adjacent droplet, an evaluation value for evaluating a relationship regarding a degree of merging with the adjacent droplet, and displaying, together with information indicating a state of the droplet corresponding to the evaluation value, the evaluation value obtained in the obtaining. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A simulation method of predicting a behavior of a curable composition in a process of bringing a plurality of droplets of the curable composition arranged on a first member into contact with a second member and forming a film of the curable composition in a space between the first member and the second member, the method comprising: for each of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition, obtaining, based on whether the droplet merges with an adjacent droplet, an evaluation value for evaluating a relationship regarding a degree of merging with the adjacent droplet, and displaying, together with information indicating a state of the droplet corresponding to the evaluation value, the evaluation value obtained in the obtaining. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein in the obtaining, for each of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition, a ratio of a part contacting a contour of the adjacent droplet to a whole circumference of a contour of the droplet is obtained as the evaluation value. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining, for each link generated by setting a node at each of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition and connecting the nodes, the link to be a closed link if the droplets forming the link merge with each other, wherein in the obtaining, for each of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition, a ratio of the closed links to the links of the droplets is obtained as the evaluation value. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein in the displaying, the ratio obtained in the obtaining is displayed in color. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining, for each link generated by setting a node at each of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition and connecting the nodes, the link to be a closed link if the droplets forming the link merge with each other, wherein, in the obtaining, an amount of a bubble included in a closed region formed by a plurality of the closed links adjacent to each other is obtained as the evaluation value. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The method according to claim 5, wherein in the displaying, the amount of the bubble obtained in the obtaining is displayed by a size of a circle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining presence/absence of an abnormality in the behavior of the curable composition in the process based on the evaluation value obtained in the obtaining. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, further comprising displaying, together with information indicating states of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition, information indicating the presence/absence of the abnormality in the behavior of the curable composition in the process determined in the determining. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method according to claim 8, wherein in the determining, if it is determined that an abnormality exists in the behavior of the curable composition in the process, the droplet where the abnormality has occurred is specified from the plurality of droplets of the curable composition. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, further comprising displaying the droplet, where the abnormality has occurred, specified in the determining so as to be distinguishable from a droplet where no abnormality has occurred. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein in the distinguishably displaying the droplet, the droplet, where the abnormality has occurred, specified in the determining and the droplet where no abnormality has occurred are displayed in colors different from each other. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method according to claim 10, wherein in the distinguishably displaying the droplet, the droplet, where the abnormality has occurred, specified in the determining is blinked. ### Claim 13 A simulation apparatus that predicts a behavior of a curable composition in a process of bringing a plurality of droplets of the curable composition arranged on a first member into contact with a second member and forming a film of the curable composition in a space between the first member and the second member, wherein, for each of the plurality of droplets of the curable composition, based on whether the droplet merges with an adjacent droplet, an evaluation value for evaluating a relationship regarding a degree of merging with the adjacent droplet is obtained, and the evaluation value is displayed together with information indicating a state of the droplet corresponding to the evaluation value. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) A film forming apparatus incorporating a simulation apparatus defined in claim 13, wherein a process of bringing a plurality of droplets of the curable composition arranged on a first member into contact with a second member and forming a film of the curable composition in a space between the first member and the second member is controlled based on prediction of a behavior of the curable composition performed by the simulation apparatus. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) An article manufacturing method comprising; determining, while repeating a simulation method defined in claim 1, a condition for a process of bringing a plurality of droplets of a curable composition arranged on a first member into contact with a second member and forming a film of the curable composition in a space between the first member and the second member, and executing the process in accordance with the condition. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) A non-transitory storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a simulation method defined in claim 1.