# US 9,040,935 B2 · Blanking apparatus, drawing apparatus, and method of manufacturing article > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 9,040,935 B2 - Document ID: US9040935B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 14/312,953 - Filed: 2014-06-24 - Published: 2015-01-01 - Granted: 2015-05-26 - Earliest claimed: 2013-06-26 - Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Tomoyuki Morita; Masato Muraki - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9040935B2 ## CPC - H01J 37/045: {Beam blanking or chopping, i.e. arrangements for momentarily interrupting exposure to the discharge} - H01J 37/3007: {Electron or ion-optical systems} - H01J 37/3174: {Particle-beam lithography, e.g. electron beam lithography} - H01J 37/3177: {Multi-beam, e.g. fly's eye, comb probe} - H01J 2237/0435: Multi-aperture - H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H) ## Abstract The present invention provides a blanking apparatus comprising a plurality of blankers configured to respectively blank a plurality of beams with respect to a target position on an object, and a driving device configured to drive the plurality of blankers, wherein the driving device includes a change device configured to change relation between a combination of beams of the plurality of beams, and a target dose. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A blanking apparatus comprising: a plurality of blankers configured to respectively and selectively blank a plurality of beams with respect to a target position on an object; and a driving device configured to drive the plurality of blankers, wherein the driving device includes a change device configured to change a relation between a combination of beams, not to be blanked with respect to the target position, of the plurality of beams, and a target dose. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to control the change device based on information representing the relation. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving device includes a plurality of driving circuits respectively corresponding to the plurality of blankers, and a driving circuit of the plurality of driving circuits includes information representing a relationship between the target dose and a driving signal to a blanker of the plurality of blankers corresponding to the driving circuit, and is configured to drive the blanker based on the target dose and the relationship. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target dose is represented by a plurality of bits, the plurality of blankers are distributed to a plurality of groups such that each of the plurality of groups correspond to at least one bit of the plurality of bits, numbers of blankers respectively included in the plurality of groups are different from each other in accordance with bit positions of the at least one bit respectively corresponding thereto, and the change device is configured to change the relation with respect to each of the plurality of groups. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the driving device includes a plurality of driving circuits respectively corresponding to the plurality of blankers, and a driving circuit of the plurality of driving circuits includes information representing a relationship between the at least one bit and a driving signal to a blanker of the plurality of blankers corresponding to the driving circuit, and is configured to drive the blanker based on the at least one bit and the relationship. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein number of gradation levels of the target dose is smaller than number of beams in the plurality of beams. ### Claim 7 A drawing apparatus which performs drawing on a substrate, the apparatus comprising: an irradiation device configured to irradiate the substrate with a plurality of beams; and a stage configured to hold the substrate and to be movable, wherein the irradiation device includes a blanking apparatus comprising: a plurality of blankers configured to respectively and selectively blank a plurality of beams with respect to a target position on an object; and a driving device configured to drive the plurality of blankers, wherein the driving device includes a change device configured to change a relation between a combination of beams, not to be blanked with respect to the target position, of the plurality of beams, and a target dose. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: a detector configured to detect each of the plurality of beams; and a controller configured to obtain information representing the relation based on an output from the detector. ### Claim 9 A method of manufacturing an article, the method comprising steps of: performing drawing on a substrate using a drawing apparatus; developing the substrate on which the drawing has been performed; and processing the developed substrate to manufacture the article, wherein the drawing apparatus performs drawing on the substrate, and includes: an irradiation device configured to irradiate the substrate with a plurality of beams; and a stage configured to hold the substrate and to be movable, wherein the irradiation device includes a blanking apparatus, the blanking apparatus including: a plurality of blankers configured to respectively and selectively blank a plurality of beams with respect to a target position on the substrate; and a driving device configured to drive the plurality of blankers, wherein the driving device includes a change device configured to change a relation between a combination of beams, not to be blanked with respect to the target position, of the plurality of beams, and a target dose. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a dose at a position on the object is controlled by the combination of beams, which are incident on the position, of the plurality of beams, and the driving device is configured to drive the plurality of blankers such that the beams determined based on the relation and the target dose are incident on the target position. ### Claim 11 (depends on 2) The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information includes the relation with respect to each of a plurality of doses which are different from each other, and the controller is configured to cause the change device to change the relation based on the information.