| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 6936831 |
Divided reticles for charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus, and methods for using sam |
August 30, 2005 |
| Reticles and apparatus for performing charged-particle-beam microlithography, and associated methods, are disclosed, in which the pattern to be transferred to a sensitive substrate is divided according to any of various schemes serving to improve throughput and pattern-transfer accur |
| 6894291 |
Apparatus and methods for blocking highly scattered charged particles in a patterned beam in a c |
May 17, 2005 |
| Apparatus and methods are disclosed pertaining to microlithography performed using a charged particle beam. In an exemplary apparatus, the projection-optical system includes a first projection lens situated downstream of a pattern-defining reticle and a second projection lens situate |
| 6815693 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus and methods including proximity-effect correcti |
November 9, 2004 |
| Methods are disclosed for correcting proximity effects as affected by varying magnitudes of beam blur occurring at different respective locations in an image of a reticle subfield as projected onto the sensitive surface of a substrate. Local resizings of pattern-element profiles as d |
| 6680481 |
Mark-detection methods and charged-particle-beam microlithography methods and apparatus comprisi |
January 20, 2004 |
| Methods and apparatus are disclosed for performing charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography, in which methods and apparatus certain position-measurement marks are detected by appropriate deflections of a charged particle beam. The deflections are performed using a primary deflect |
| 6664551 |
Methods for detecting incidence orthogonality of a patterned beam in charged-particle-beam (CPB) |
December 16, 2003 |
| In the context of charged-particle-beam (CPB) microlithography methods and systems, methods are disclosed for detecting the incidence orthogonality of a patterned beam on the lithographic substrate. In an embodiment, the position of reticle-fiducial-mark images, as formed on the substrat |
| 6657207 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus and methods including optical corrections made |
December 2, 2003 |
| Charged-particle-beam (CPB) apparatus and methods are disclosed that achieve efficient correction of imaging conditions such as shape-astigmatic aberrations, etc., caused by differences in the distribution of pattern elements within respective subfields of the reticle. Indices based |
| 6541169 |
Methods for charged-particle-beam microlithography including correction of deflection aberration |
April 1, 2003 |
| Methods and apparatus are provided for performing charged-particle-beam microlithography at improved accuracy. A pattern is formed on a substrate (wafer) by repeated shot exposure of respective areas on a wafer substrate mounted on a wafer stage. Exposure of the wafer is made while the w |
| 6447964 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography methods including chip-exposure sequences for reducing th |
September 10, 2002 |
| Methods are disclosed for reducing effects of thermal expansion of a sensitive substrate arising during microlithographic exposure of the substrate using a charged particle beam. Thermal expansion ordinarily causes lateral shift of exposure position of dies (chips) on the substrate w |
| 6376137 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus and methods including correction of stage-posit |
April 23, 2002 |
| Charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus and methods are disclosed that achieve correction of positioning errors of one or both the reticle stage and wafer stage using a deflector. The deflector is situated in one or both lenses of the projection-optical system of the apparatus. |
| 6362489 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography methods exhibiting reduced thermal deformation of mark-de |
March 26, 2002 |
| Methods and apparatus are disclosed for reducing thermal deformation of "upstream" marks (as used for alignment and/or calibration) situated on a reticle or on a reticle plane (e.g., on the reticle stage), thereby facilitating more accurate transfer of the reticle pattern to a sensitized |
| 6307209 |
Pattern-transfer method and apparatus |
October 23, 2001 |
| Charged-particle-beam pattern-transfer methods and apparatus are disclosed. Circuit patterns on a mask are divided into a plurality of fields, each field including respective connection ends. Fields that are to be adjacent as transferred to a substrate include a common portion of the cir |
| 6277542 |
Charged-particle-beam projection-exposure methods exhibiting more uniform beam-current density |
August 21, 2001 |
| Methods are disclosed for reducing distortions, differences in focal point-positions, and astigmatic blurring of a pattern defined on a reticle and projected onto a sensitive substrate using a charged particle beam. The methods reduce variations in the distribution of beam current as |
| 6258511 |
Charged particle beam exposure method utilizing partial exposure stitch area |
July 10, 2001 |
| An exposure method using a charged particle beam is used to improve the accuracy of stitching the patterns according to the divided pattern transfer. The exposure method according to the present invention comprises dividing the pattern into a plurality of subfields arranged in stripes; |
| 6207962 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus and methods exhibiting reduced thermal deformat |
March 27, 2001 |
| Methods and apparatus are disclosed for reducing thermal deformation of "upstream" marks (as used for alignment and/or calibration) situated on a reticle or on a reticle plane (e.g., on the reticle stage), thereby facilitating more accurate transfer of the reticle pattern to a sensitized |
| 6194732 |
Charged-particle-beam exposure methods with beam parallelism detection and correction |
February 27, 2001 |
| Methods are disclosed for transferring a pattern from a mask to a sensitive substrate. The mask is illuminated substantially orthogonally with a charged particle beam propagating along an optical axis. An image of the charged particle beam that has passed through the mask is projecti |
| 6162581 |
Charged particle beam pattern-transfer method utilizing non-uniform dose distribution in stitchi |
December 19, 2000 |
| Charged-particle-beam pattern-transfer methods and apparatus are disclosed. Circuit patterns on a mask are divided into a plurality of fields, each field including respective connection ends. Fields that are to be adjacent as transferred to a substrate include a common portion of the cir |
| 6151101 |
Charged-particle-beam projection-exposure apparatus and methods exhibiting increased throughtput |
November 21, 2000 |
| Charged-particle-beam (CPB) methods and apparatus are disclosed that achieve efficient correction of imaging distortions or astigmatisms (e.g., shape astigmatism) arising from differences in feature distributions within individual exposure units of a divided reticle defining a pattern |
| 6072184 |
Charged-particle-beam projection methods |
June 6, 2000 |
| Methods are disclosed for improving the accuracy of pattern registration between various layers formed on a sensitive substrate by microlithography using a charged-particle beam, especially registration accuracy as affected by rotation of image portions relative to corresponding image |
| 6027843 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography methods including correction of imaging faults |
February 22, 2000 |
| Charged-particle-beam (CPB) exposure methods are disclosed that resolve the problem of aberrations produced by an image-adjustment lens and the problem of limitations in the speeds in which stage-correction mechanisms can be adjusted. Adjustments of stage-correction mechanisms and im |
| 5989753 |
Method, apparatus, and mask for pattern projection using a beam of charged particles |
November 23, 1999 |
| In order to make it possible to suppress projection errors in the portions of patterns which are connected together, in a method of pattern projection which includes a process of making a pattern of a beam of charged particle, in which a beam of charged particles is irradiated upon a |
| 5981947 |
Apparatus for detecting or collecting secondary electrons, charged-particle beam exposure appara |
November 9, 1999 |
| Apparatus and methods are disclosed for performing highly precise mark detection by obtaining a large signal as a result of the efficient capture of secondary electrons (SEs) emitted from a surface of a specimen. A charged-particle beam is directed at a location (e.g., a mark) on the |
| 5973333 |
Charged-particle-beam pattern-transfer apparatus and methods |
October 26, 1999 |
| Charged-particle-beam projection-microlithography apparatus and methods are disclosed for transferring a reticle pattern image to a substrate using a charged-particle beam. The apparatus comprises, along an optical axis in the trajectory direction of the charged-particle beam, a beam emi |
| 5933217 |
Electron-beam projection-microlithography apparatus and methods |
August 3, 1999 |
| Electron-beam projection-microlithography apparatus are disclosed for transferring a reticle pattern image to a substrate using an electron beam. The apparatus includes, along an optical axis in the trajectory direction of the electron beam, an electron gun, a field-limiting aperture |
| 5929457 |
Charged particle beam transfer apparatus |
July 27, 1999 |
| A pattern transfer apparatus in which a part or all of a plurality of small areas on a mask are sequentially irradiated with a charged particle beam to transfer an image of a pattern provided in each of the irradiated small areas onto a radiation-sensitive substrate, e.g., a wafer. A pat |
| 5914493 |
Charged-particle-beam exposure apparatus and methods with substrate-temperature control |
June 22, 1999 |
| Apparatus and methods are disclosed for increasing the throughput of a charged-particle-beam exposure apparatus. The apparatus comprises an exposure-processing chamber in which exposure of individual sensitive substrates is performed using a charged-particle beam under preset vacuum |
| 5912469 |
Charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus |
June 15, 1999 |
| Apparatus are disclosed for performing microlithography using a charged-particle beam and a mask partitioned into multiple subfields to be transferred sequentially to a sensitive substrate. The apparatus comprise a charged-particle-beam illumination system, a charged-particle-beam pr |
| 5912467 |
Method and apparatus for measurement of pattern formation characteristics |
June 15, 1999 |
| The apparatus and methods of the present invention provide for the precise measurement and correction of pattern formation characteristics, such as the reduction factor and the rotation angle of projected images. The projected image measurement apparatus includes a projection optical sys |
| 5888699 |
Pattern transfer method and transfer apparatus by charged particle beam |
March 30, 1999 |
| Disclosed herein is a pattern transfer method wherein a beam transmitting portion which transmits a charged particle beam and a beam limiting portion which scatters or absorbs the charged particle beam to a greater extent than the beam transmitting portion are disposed in a pattern area |
| 5879842 |
Pattern projection method with charged particle beam utilizing continuous movement of mask and s |
March 9, 1999 |
| By causing a mask and a wafer to continuously move once or more and irradiating a plurality of small areas contained within a specific range of the mask in time sequence with a charged particle beam during each such continuous movement, the pattern in each small area is selectively p |
| 5874198 |
Charged particle beam transfer method |
February 23, 1999 |
| A charged particle beam transfer method is disclosed for use in lithography processes, particularly in processes for the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits. A mask pattern is divided into multiple mask subfields separated from one another by a grid of boundary fields. The |
| 5856677 |
Pattern projection method with charged particle beam and charged particle beam projection system |
January 5, 1999 |
| By causing a mask and a wafer to continuously move once or more and irradiating a plurality of small areas contained within a specific range of the mask in time sequence with a charged particle beam during each such continuous movement, the pattern in each small area is selectively p |
| 5817442 |
Pattern projection method with charged particle beam utilizing continuous movement to perform pr |
October 6, 1998 |
| By causing a mask and a wafer to continuously move once or more and irradiating a plurality of small areas contained within a specific range of the mask in time sequence with a charged particle beam during each such continuous movement, the pattern in each small area is selectively p |
| 5798196 |
Pattern transfer method utilizing distribution condition evaluation by charged particle beam |
August 25, 1998 |
| A pattern transfer method in which a part or all of a plurality of small areas on a mask are sequentially irradiated with a charged particle beam to transfer an image of a pattern provided in each of the irradiated small areas onto a radiation-sensitive substrate, e.g., a wafer. A patter |
| 5789119 |
Image transfer mask for charged particle-beam |
August 4, 1998 |
| A charged particle-beam transfer mask includes a first area having a low degree of scattering or absorbing of charged particle beams, a second area higher in degree of scattering or absorbing of the charged particle beams than the first area, and dose correction member. This correction m |
| 5700604 |
Charged particle beam exposure method and mask employed therefor |
December 23, 1997 |
| A charged particle beam exposure method capable of suppressing the degradation of dimensional accuracy of exposed pattern elements due to the proximity effect and Coulomb effect defocusing. The charged particle beam exposure method is a method in which a charged particle beam is irradiat |
| 5624774 |
Method for transferring patterns with charged particle beam |
April 29, 1997 |
| A pattern to be transferred onto a predetermined area on a beam-sensitive substrate is divided into a plurality of small regions on a mask, projection of a charged particle beam covering each small region is repeated for all of the small regions, and pattern transfer positions are ad |
| 5567949 |
Charged particle beam transfer apparatus |
October 22, 1996 |
| An electron beam transfer apparatus in which an electron beam emitted from an electron gun (10) is led to a mask (M), and the electron beam having passed through the mask (M) is made incident on a wafer (W) at an intensity correlating with the degree of scattering of the electron beam. |
