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US 6,603,128 B2Granted
Charged-particle beam exposure apparatus and device manufacturing method
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsHiroshi Maehara, Haruhito Ono, Yasuhiro Shimada, Takayuki Yagi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A correction electron optical system (3) has substrates in which apertures for constituting electron lenses are formed. Valves (14) whose opening degrees can be adjusted are used to relax the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces of each substrate caused when supply/exhaust pumps (51-56) adjust the internal pressure of a main body cover (80). The opening degrees are controlled based on outputs from differential pressure sensors (13). The pressure sensors (13) can be replaced with photosensors.
Claims22
A charged-particle beam exposure apparatus comprising:
- a charged-particle beam source;
- an electron optical system which irradiates a device material with a charged-particle beam emitted by said charged-particle beam source and includes a substrate having an aperture for transmitting the charged-particle beam;
- a cover which covers said charged-particle beam source and said electron optical system;
- an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a pressure in an internal space of said cover;
- and
- a relaxing mechanism for relaxing a pressure difference between upper and lower surfaces of the substrate upon a change in pressure in the internal space.
3 more elements
A device manufacturing method comprising the steps of:
- drawing a pattern on a device material by irradiating the device material with a charged-particle beam emitted by a charged-particle beam source via an electron optical system including a substrate having an aperture for transmitting the charged-particle beam;
- and
- relaxing a change in pressure difference between upper and lower surfaces of the substrate.
A device manufacturing method comprising the steps of:
- installing a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses including a charged-particle beam exposure apparatus in a factory;
- and
- manufacturing a semiconductor device by using the plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses,
- wherein the charged-particle beam exposure apparatus has
- a charged-particle beam source,
- an electron optical system which irradiates a device material with a charged-particle beam emitted by the charged-particle beam source and includes a substrate having an aperture for transmitting the charged-particle beam,
- a cover which covers the charged-particle beam source and the electron optical system,
- an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a pressure in an internal space of the cover, and
- a relaxing mechanism for relaxing a pressure difference between upper and lower surfaces of the substrate upon a change in pressure in the internal space.
6 more elements
A semiconductor manufacturing factory comprising:
- a plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses including a charged-particle beam exposure apparatus;
- a local area network for connecting said plurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses;
- and
- a gateway for connecting the local area network to an external network of the semiconductor manufacturing factory,
- wherein said charged-particle beam exposure apparatus has
- a charged-particle beam source,
- an electron optical system which irradiates a device material with a charged-particle beam emitted by said charged-particle beam source and includes a substrate having an aperture for transmitting the charged-particle beam,
- a cover which covers said charged-particle beam source and said electron optical system,
- an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a pressure in an internal space of said cover, and
- a relaxing mechanism for relaxing a pressure difference between upper and lower surfaces of the substrate upon a change in pressure in the internal space.
7 more elements
A maintenance method for a charged-particle beam exposure apparatus, comprising the steps of:
- preparing a database for accumulating information about maintenance of the charged-particle beam exposure apparatus on an external network of a factory where the charged-particle beam exposure apparatus is installed;
- connecting the charged-particle beam exposure apparatus to a local area network in the factory;
- and
- maintaining the charged-particle beam exposure apparatus on the basis of the information accumulated in the database by using the external network and the local area network,
- wherein the charged-particle beam exposure apparatus has
- a charged-particle beam source,
- an electron optical system which irradiates a device material with a charged-particle beam emitted by the charged-particle beam source and includes a substrate having an aperture for transmitting the charged-particle beam,
- a cover which covers the charged-particle beam source and the electron optical system,
- an adjustment mechanism for adjusting a pressure in an internal space of the cover, and
- a relaxing mechanism for relaxing a pressure difference between upper and lower surfaces of the substrate upon a change in pressure in the internal space.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.