Masato Muraki

New concept for high-throughput multielectron beam direct write system

A new multielectron-beam optical system with correction lens array (CLA) is proposed. The CLA is arranged between an electron source and reduction optics. The CLA can generate plural intermediate images of the electron source as a multisource, and moreover can compensate field curvature and distortion of the reduction optics. The proposed system was designed and optimized through simulations. The specifications are field size of 250 μm square, convergence beam angle of 10 mrad, 64×64 beams, individual beam size of φ25 nm, accelerating voltage of 50 kV, and demagnification ratio of 50. The practical resolution for various resist processes is estimated considering the Coulomb interaction effect, and the throughput is simulated. The proposed system offers the possibility of “maskless” electron beam lithography with throughput in excess of 50 wafers/h (8 in.) for the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) 100 nm and 70 nm nodes at 3 μC/cm2 resist sensitivity.

Exposure system with exposure controlling acoustooptic element

An exposure system is disclosed which uses a pulsed laser, such as an excimer, as the light source for exposure. For exposure control, an acoustooptic element is used. More specifically, the acoustooptic element is used to modulate the intensity of a pulsed laser beam emitted from the excimer laser, to thereby allow precise control of the exposure with respect to a wafer having a resist coating.

Optical properties of a multibeam column with a single-electron source

A novel single-column multi-electron-beam system, called a beam-split array, has been developed for a high-resolution, high-throughput lithography tool. In this system, a single electron beam is divided into 1024 beams by a multisource module (MSM) composed of an aperture array (a beam-dividing aperture), a static lens array (Einzel lenses for each divided beam), and a blanker array (BLA, blanking electrode pairs for each focused beam). The MSM is used to form multiple intermediate images of the electron source at the BLA. These images are demagnified to form final images through a projection optics consisting of a double lens doublet with a blanking aperture and deflector. To align the multiple beam paths in the MSM, aligners between these arrays are used, and the aligner conditions are determined by monitoring the blanking-aperture image. Moreover, because each beam current is about 0.1% of the total beam current on the specimen, a high-contrast transmission detection method is used to detect the electr...

Inspection of all beams in multielectron beam system

A testing apparatus for inspecting the beams formed by a multisource module (MSM) was built for the feasibility study of a beam splitting array (BSA), a multielectron beam system the authors are developing. In this BSA, the MSM plays the following three key roles: splitting the beam from a single cathode into 32×32 beams, converging the 32×32 beams, and blanking them individually. Accordingly, the inspection of all beams formed by the MSM is essential for the feasibility study of the system. The testing apparatus was therefore designed for measuring all the beams formed by the MSM without demagnifying them. To maintain the accuracy during the inspection of all 32×32 beams, the measurement process was automated. This testing apparatus was used to measure the diameters and misalignments of all beams formed by a prototype MSM. As a result, the mean values of the transverse and the longitudinal diameters were found to be 0.88 and 0.92μm, respectively. A single stigmator can cancel the difference between these...