Patent ID: 6657207
Filing Date: 2003-12-02
Classification: B82Y,H01J

Abstract:
A charged-particle-beam microlithography apparatus for transferring a pattern, defined on a segmented reticle in which the pattern is divided into multiple subfields each defining a respective portion of the pattern, to a sensitive substrate, the apparatus comprising:a substrate stage configured to hold the substrate; a reticle stage situated upstream of the substrate stage and configured to hold the reticle; an illumination-optical system situated upstream of the reticle stage and configured to successively illuminate groups of subfields on the reticle using a charged-particle illumination beam, each group consisting of at least one respective subfield; a projection-optical system situated between the reticle stage and the substrate stage, the projection-optical system being configured to direct an imaging beam, formed from particles of the illumination beam passing through the reticle, to the substrate such that respective images of the illuminated subfields are formed at respective positions on the substrate serving to stitch the images together; and a main controller connected to the reticle stage, substrate stage, illumination-optical system, and projection-optical system, the main controller being configured to command one or both the illumination-optical system and the projection-optical system to perform a respective optical correction as each subfield is being exposed, the optical correction being based on respective reticle-pattern-inspection data for each of the subfields.