Patent ID: 6627905
Filing Date: 2003-09-30
Classification: B82Y,H01J

Abstract:
A charged-particle-beam exposure device, comprising:a mask stage for receiving and holding a thin-film mask defining a pattern to be illuminated from upstream and exposed onto a downstream substrate, the mask comprising multiple pattern-formation fields that (i) are separated from one anther by respective portions of a frame, (ii) define respective groups of pattern elements of the pattern, and (iii) individually define at least one respective mask used for at least one of mask alignment and calibration; a charged-particle-beam illumination system situated upstream of the mask stage and configured to illuminate the mask with a charged particle beam,the charged-particle-beam illumination system including a beam-varying means for varying at least one of the size and shape of the cross-section of the beam at the mask; and a controller connected to the illumination system and beam-varying means and configured to (i) cause the illumination system to illuminate individual pattern-formation fields of the mask with the charged particle beam size and shape to provide an exposure-irradiation field sufficient to cover each respective illuminated pattern-formation field while not impinging on respective elements of the frame, and (ii) cause the illumination system to illuminate, within an individual pattern-formation field, at least one selected respective mask as the beam-varying means reduces at least one of the cross-sectional size and shape of the beam, relative to the exposure-irradiation field, to illuminate the mask while not impinging on respective elements of the frame.