Patent Publication Number: US-10784081-B2

Title: Charged particle beam lithography apparatus and charged particle beam pattern writing method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a Divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/228,824 filed Dec. 21, 2018, which is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-249436 filed on Dec. 26, 2017 in Japan, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to a charged particle beam lithography apparatus and a charged particle beam pattern writing method and relates to, for example, a method of writing a pattern directly on a wafer using multiple beams. 
     Related Art 
     A lithography technique which leads development of micropatterning of a semiconductor device is a very important process for exclusively generating a pattern in semiconductor manufacturing processes. In recent years, with an increase in integration density of an LSI, a circuit line width required for semiconductor devices is getting smaller year by year. Here, the electron beam pattern writing technique has inherently excellent resolution, and a pattern is directly written onto a semiconductor wafer using an electron beam without going through a mask for exposure. 
     Further, if the exposure area of a target object is S, the resist sensitivity is d, and the beam average current is Ib, the pattern writing time Ttot is given by Ttot=Sd/Ib+Tne if a useless time Tne such as the movement time of a beam is excluded. That is, in order to shorten the exposure time, it is clear that the beam average current Ib needs to be increased and/or the useless time Tne needs to be shortened. 
     In the variable shaped beam system mainly used in the conventional electron beam writing, the current density is not dependent on the beam size in general, so that the beam size becomes small as the pattern becomes finer and thus, the beam average current Ib becomes smaller. In addition, the time Tne required for moving a beam increases. Therefore, it is difficult to shorten Ttot. 
     As a system of shortening the time Tne and increasing the average beam current Ib, for example, a lithography apparatus using multiple beams is known. Compared with the case in which one electron beam is used to write a pattern, more beams can be irradiated at a time by using multiple beams and so the beam average current Ib can be increased regardless of the pattern, and also many beams are deflected at a time and so an increase of the time Tne can be suppressed and therefore, throughput can be improved significantly. In such a lithography apparatus of multiple-beam mode, for example, an electron beam emitted from an electron gun assembly is passed through a mask having a plurality of holes to form multiple beams, each beam is subjected to blanking control, each beam that is not shielded is reduced by an optical system, and multiple beams as a whole are collectively deflected by a common deflector before being shot at a desired position on a target object. 
     In such a multiple-beam pattern writing apparatus, one beam emitted from one irradiation source is divided into multiple beams and thus, there is a limit to increasing the amount of beam current in multiple beams as a whole. Therefore, further improvements in throughput are limited. 
     Also, a lithography apparatus using a multi-column that combines electron beam columns, each including an electron gun assembly, a lens, and a deflector and serving one electron beam has been studied. In such a multi-column lithography apparatus, each column takes charge of one of a plurality of dies (chips) of the same pattern formed on a semiconductor wafer for pattern writing. In the multi-column lithography apparatus, each beam is emitted by an individual electron gun assembly and thus, it may be possible to increase the amount of current. However, in the multi-column lithography apparatus, individual columns are controlled independently and thus, the number of deflection amplifiers of the deflector also increases accordingly. When one deflector is constructed of, for example, eight electrodes, eight deflection amplifiers are required for each beam. Thus, when, for example, 2000 beams are irradiated at a time as multiple beams, 16,000 deflection amplifiers are required and the control of 16000 deflection amplifiers is required. Therefore, practically, there is a limit to the number of beams that can be mounted, and it becomes difficult to fully demonstrate the unique performance of multiple-beam pattern writing such as improvement of pattern writing throughput. Even if additional columns can be added, the number of beams is limited because the number equal to the number of dies (chips) formed on one wafer becomes the upper limit and so the number of beams is limited and there is a limit to the mass production of semiconductor wafers. 
     In contrast, a lithography apparatus in which beams are emitted from each of a plurality of electron gun assemblies to form multiple beams as many as the number of electron gun assemblies and the multiple beams as a whole are collectively focused and deflected by a common electron optics to irradiate a desired position on a target object with the multiple beams is also proposed (see Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 07-192682 (JP-A-07-192682), for example). In such a configuration, each beam is emitted by an individual electron gun assembly so that the amount of current can be increased. However, the diameter size of the whole beam becomes large and so the electrode used for the deflector becomes large. Therefore, the number of beams that can be mounted is limited and the mass production of semiconductor wafers is still limited. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, a charged particle beam lithography apparatus, includes:
         a plurality of multiple-beam sets, each of which including
           a plurality of irradiation sources each generating an independent charged particle beam,   a plurality of objective deflectors, each arranged for a corresponding charged particle beam, and configured to deflect the corresponding charged particle beam to a desired position on a substrate as a target object, and   a plurality of electrostatic or electromagnetic lens fields each to focus the corresponding charged particle beam on the target object;   
           a plurality of common deflection amplifiers, arranged for each of the plurality of multiple-beam sets, and each of the plurality of common deflection amplifiers being configured to commonly control the plurality of objective deflectors arranged in a same multiple-beam set;   a plurality of individual ON/OFF mechanisms configured to individually turn ON/OFF a beam irradiated from each of the plurality of irradiation sources; and   one or more multiple-beam clusters including the plurality of multiple-beam sets.       

     According to another aspect of the present invention, a charged particle beam pattern writing method includes:
         continuously moving a plurality of substrates aligned in a predetermined direction in the predetermined direction; and   writing a pattern on the plurality of substrates by using a plurality of multiple-beam sets, each irradiating multiple beams, so that each multiple-beam set of the plurality of multiple-beam sets sequentially writes a portion of the pattern on a different one or more of exposure pixel groups in a same small region, on a same substrate, smaller than each die region of a plurality of die regions to form a same pattern, the plurality of die regions provided on each substrate of the plurality of substrates, in a state where the plurality of substrates is continuously moved in the predetermined direction.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a lithography apparatus according to a first embodiment; 
         FIGS. 2A to 2C  are diagrams showing an example of a system configuration of a multiple-beam cluster according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram showing another example of the system configuration of a multiple-beam block according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram showing another example of the system configuration of the multiple-beam cluster according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram showing another example of the system configuration of a multiple-beam set according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram showing still another example of the system configuration of the multiple-beam set according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram showing still another example of the system configuration of the multiple-beam set according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of an electron beam column according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional view showing an example of an electrostatic lens according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view showing another example of the electrostatic lens according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 11  is a top view showing an example of the relationship between objective deflectors and deflection amplifiers according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of chip regions formed on a semiconductor substrate according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating an example of a pattern writing procedure according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating an example of the pattern writing procedure according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 15  is a diagram showing an example of a pattern writing technique when a pattern is written in a small region in the chip region in the first embodiment with the multiple-beam set; 
         FIG. 16  is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of performing continuous pattern writing on a plurality of substrates according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 17  is a diagram illustrating another example of the method of performing continuous pattern writing on the plurality of substrates according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 18  is a diagram illustrating still another example of the method of performing continuous pattern writing on the plurality of substrates according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 19  is a diagram showing another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 20  is a diagram showing still another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 21  is a diagram showing still another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 22  is a diagram showing still another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 23  is a top view showing an example of an electrostatic lens array according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 24  is a sectional view showing an example of the electrostatic lens array according to the first embodiment; and 
         FIG. 25  is a diagram showing an example of the shape of a cluster of the first embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, in an embodiment, a lithography apparatus and a method capable of improving the throughput of multiple-beam pattern writing and mass-producing semiconductor substrates will be described. 
     In Embodiment described below, the configuration using an electron beam will be described as an example of a charged particle beam. However, the charged particle beam is not limited to an electron beam, and a beam such as an ion beam using charged particles may also be used. 
     First Embodiment 
       FIG. 1  is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a lithography apparatus according to a first embodiment. In  FIG. 1 , a lithography apparatus  100  includes a pattern writing mechanism  150  and a control system circuit  160 . The lithography apparatus  100  is an example of the charged particle beam lithography apparatus. The pattern writing mechanism  150  includes a pattern writing chamber  102 . In the pattern writing chamber  102 , a plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  and a stage  105  are arranged. In the example of  FIG. 1 , the case where the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  is arranged is shown, but the present embodiment is not limited to this and one or more multiple-beam clusters  16  may be arranged. In an upper portion of the stage  105 , for example, a plurality of electrostatic chucks for fixing a substrate  101  is provided. By the operation of a transport system (not shown), the substrate  101  is transported onto the stage  105  or taken out from the stage  105  to the outside. By such an operation, a plurality of substrates  101  on which a pattern is to be written is arranged on the stage  105  with the surface on which a pattern is to be written directed upward. The position of the stage  105  is measured by a position measuring mechanism  138  such as a laser interferometer or a linear scale to measure the position of each of the substrates  101 . The position of each of the substrates  101  can be obtained relative to the stage position to be measured. It is desirable to provide a plurality of such position measuring means. A plurality of measuring means in the y direction is provided when the stage moving direction for pattern writing is the x direction. The wafer position in the y direction in each multiple-beam set  12  is estimated from the outputs of a plurality of y direction measuring means and the value and the estimated value of the wafer position in the x direction are used for stage tracking. Each of the multiple-beam clusters  16  is constructed of one or more multiple-beam blocks  14 . Each of the multiple-beam blocks  14  is constructed of a plurality of multiple-beam sets  12 . In other words, the multiple-beam cluster  16  is constructed of a plurality of multiple-beam sets  12 . The multiple-beam set  12  is a kind of multiple-beam column. An electron beam column  10  is defined as a unit having an electron source, a lens mechanism for converging and focusing an electron beam emitted from the electron source on the surface of the substrate  101 , and an objective deflector. The lens mechanism in the electron beam column  10  unit includes a case where the lens mechanism is a portion of a lens array in which a plurality of lenses is arranged. The lens mechanism forms an electrostatic or electromagnetic lens field for focusing an electron beam on the target object surface. Each of the multiple-beam sets  12  has a plurality of electron beam columns  10  and is defined as being configured such that a common deflector drive input signal is input into each objective deflector in the same multiple-beam set  12  and each objective deflector is driven by a common deflector drive electric field or current. Further, in the multiple-beam set  12 , each of the electron beam columns  10  belonging to the multiple-beam set  12  is attached to a common mechanical fixing means. In other words, each of the plurality of multiple-beam sets  12  includes a plurality of irradiation sources each generating an independent electron beam and a plurality of objective deflectors each arranged for a corresponding electron beam to deflect the corresponding electron beam to a desired position on the substrate as a target object. Further, the each of the plurality of multiple-beam sets  12  includes a plurality of electrostatic or electromagnetic lens fields each to focusing the corresponding electron beam on the target object. The multiple-beam cluster  16 , the multiple-beam block  14 , and the multiple-beam set  12  are examples of the multi-columns. As the substrate  101 , for example, a semiconductor substrate (semiconductor wafer) coated with a resist, a mask substrate to which a resist is applied for transferring a mask pattern to a semiconductor wafer or the like is used. Further, the pattern writing chamber  102  is evacuated by a vacuum pump (not shown) and is controlled to have a vacuum environment lower than the atmospheric pressure. The evacuation of an electron optical barrel is performed in units of the multiple-beam cluster  16  and if the evacuation of a target object chamber storing the stage  105  on which a plurality of substrates  101  is placed is carried out collectively in the entire system, the system can be made smaller than when the evacuation is carried out collectively in the entire electron optics. 
     The control system circuit  160  includes a control computer  110 , a memory  112 , a deflection control circuit  130 , a digital/analog conversion (DAC) amplifier  132 , a lens control circuit  134 , a stage drive circuit  139 , a power supply circuit  170 , relay circuits  180 ,  182 ,  184 ,  186 , and storage devices  140 ,  142  such as a magnetic disk drive. The control computer  110 , the memory  112 , the deflection control circuit  130 , the lens control circuit  134 , the stage drive circuit  139 , the power supply circuit  170 , and the storage devices  140 ,  142  are connected to each other via a bus (not shown). The DAC amplifier  132  and the relay circuit  184  are connected to the deflection control circuit  130 . The output of the DAC amplifier  132  is connected to the relay circuit  186 . The power supply circuit  170  is connected to the relay circuit  180 . The lens control circuit  134  is connected to the relay circuit  182 . In  FIG. 1 , only one DAC amplifier  132  and one relay circuit  186  are shown, but as many circuits as the number obtained by multiplying the number of electrodes of the deflector described below by the number of the multiple-beam sets  12  are arranged. Similarly, though only one relay circuit of each relay circuit  180 ,  182 ,  184  is shown in  FIG. 1 , each relay circuit  180 ,  182 ,  184  is suitably arranged for each of the multiple-beam sets  12 , for example. Each relay circuit  180 ,  182 ,  184 ,  186  is suitably arranged in the pattern writing chamber  102 . The other control system circuits  160  may be arranged in a control chamber (not shown). The stage drive circuit  139  moves the stage  105 . 
     In the control computer  110 , a rasterization unit  50 , a dose calculation unit  52 , a beam irradiation time data processing unit  54 , and a pattern writing control unit  56  are arranged. Each “ . . . unit” such as the rasterization unit  50 , the dose calculation unit  52 , the beam irradiation time data processing unit  54 , and the pattern writing control unit  56  has a processing circuit. Such processing circuits include, for example, electric circuits, computers, processors, circuit substrates, quantum circuits, or semiconductor devices. Each “ . . . unit” may use a common processing circuit (the same processing circuit) or different processing circuits (separate processing circuits). Information input into or output from the rasterization unit  50 , the dose calculation unit  52 , the beam irradiation time data processing unit  54 , and the pattern writing control unit  56  and information during operation are stored in the memory  112  each time. 
     In addition, pattern writing data is input from outside the lithography apparatus  100  and stored in the storage device  140 . Normally, information on a plurality of graphic patterns to be written is defined in the pattern writing data. More specifically, a graphic code, coordinates, size and the like are defined for each graphic pattern. Alternatively, a graphic code, each vertex coordinate and the like are defined for each graphic pattern. 
     Here, in  FIG. 1 , only the configuration needed to describe the first embodiment is shown. Other configurations normally needed for the lithography apparatus  100  may also be included. 
       FIGS. 2A to 2C  are diagrams showing an example of a system configuration of a multiple-beam cluster according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 2A , one multiple-beam set  12  is formed of 3×3 electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . arranged in the x and y directions (lengthwise and crosswise). In each of the electron beam columns  10 , for example, a cylindrical column (electron optical barrel) is arranged in a frame having a square cross section. Then, in the multiple-beam set  12 , the 3×3 electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame (not shown) to be unitized. Then, in the example of  FIG. 2B , one multiple-beam block  14  is constructed of 3×3 multiple-beam sets  12   a ,  12   b ,  12   c , . . . arranged in the x and y directions (lengthwise and crosswise). In the multiple-beam block  14 , these 3×3 multiple-beam sets  12   a, b, c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame (not shown) to be unitized. In the example of  FIG. 2C , one multiple-beam cluster  16  is constructed of 2×2 multiple-beam blocks  14   a ,  14   b , arranged in the x and y directions (lengthwise and crosswise). In the multiple-beam cluster  16 , it is preferable that these 2×2 multiple-beam blocks  14   a ,  14   b , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame (not shown) to be unitized. In the example of  FIGS. 2A to 2C , it is possible to irradiate 324 multiple beams by one multiple-beam cluster  16 . The system configuration of the multiple-beam cluster  16  is not limited thereto. 
     It is also suitable to provide a reflection electron detector or a Z sensor mechanism using an optical lever in the frame. In addition, a water cooling pipe for temperature adjustment may also be provided in the frame. 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram showing another example of the system configuration of a multiple-beam block according to the first embodiment. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram showing another example of the system configuration of the multiple-beam cluster according to the first embodiment. In the examples of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , one multiple-beam set  12  is constructed of, for example, 19 electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . arranged in a honeycomb shape. In each of the electron beam columns  10 , for example, a cylindrical column (electron optical barrel) is arranged in a frame having a regular hexagonal cross section. Then, in the multiple-beam set  12 , these 19 electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame having a regular hexagonal cross section to be unitized. Then, one multiple-beam block  14  is constructed of, for example, 19 multiple-beam sets  12   a ,  12   b ,  12   c , . . . arranged in a honeycomb shape. Then, in the multiple-beam block  14 , these 19 multiple-beam sets  12   a ,  12   b ,  12   c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame having a regular hexagonal cross section to be unitized. Then, one multiple-beam cluster  16  is constructed of, for example, 19 multiple-beam blocks  14   a ,  14   b ,  14   c , . . . arranged in a honeycomb shape. Then, in the multiple-beam cluster  16 , these 19 multiple-beam blocks  14   a ,  14   b ,  14   c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame having a regular hexagonal cross section to be unitized. By arranging in the honeycomb structure, unnecessary gaps can be reduced and the number of arrays of the electron beam columns  10  per unit area can be increased (the electron beam column  10  can be densely arranged). In other words, the number of multiple beam beams per unit area can be increased (multiple beams can be densely arranged). In the examples of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , it is possible to irradiate 6859 multiple beams by one multiple-beam cluster  16 . 
       FIG. 5  is a diagram showing another example of the system configuration of a multiple-beam set according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 5 , one multiple-beam set  12  is constructed by, for example, 24 electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . arranged to form regular hexagons by combining sides of a plurality of regular triangles. In each of the electron beam columns  10 , for example, a cylindrical column (electron optical barrel) is arranged in a frame having a regular triangular cross section. Then, in the multiple-beam set  12 , these 24 electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame having a regular hexagonal cross section to be unitized. The system configurations of the multiple-beam block  14  and the multiple-beam cluster  16  may be the same as in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . In the example of  FIG. 5 , it is possible to irradiate 8664 multiple beams by one multiple-beam cluster  16 . 
       FIG. 6  is a diagram showing still another example of the system configuration of the multiple-beam set according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 6 , one multiple-beam set  12  is constructed by, for example, nine electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . arranged to form regular triangles by combining sides of a plurality of regular triangles. In each of the electron beam columns  10 , for example, a cylindrical column (electron optical barrel) is arranged in a frame having a regular triangular cross section. Then, in the multiple-beam set  12 , these nine electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame having a regular triangular cross section to be unitized. For the system configurations of the multiple-beam block  14  and the multiple-beam cluster  16 , as shown in  FIG. 6 , a plurality of triangles may be arranged so as to form a regular triangle by combining sides of the regular triangles. In the example of  FIG. 6 , it is possible to irradiate, for example, 729 multiple beams by one multiple-beam cluster  16 . 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram showing still another example of the system configuration of the multiple-beam set according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 7 , one multiple-beam set  12  is constructed by, for example, eight electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . arranged to form parallelograms by combining sides of a plurality of regular triangles. In each of the electron beam columns  10 , for example, a cylindrical column (electron optical barrel) is arranged in a frame having a regular triangular cross section. Then, in the multiple-beam set  12 , these eight electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . are suitably configured to be put together and fitted into a frame having a parallelogram cross section to be unitized. For the system configurations of the multiple-beam block  14  and the multiple-beam cluster  16 , a plurality of parallelograms may be arranged so as to form a parallelogram by combining sides of the parallelograms. 
     In any of the arrangement configurations of  FIG. 2A  to  FIG. 2C  to  FIG. 7 , one unitized multiple-beam set  12  is constructed of a plurality of electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . . Similarly, one unitized multiple-beam block  14  is constructed of a plurality of multiple-beam sets  12   a ,  12   b ,  12   c , . . . . Similarly, one unitized multiple-beam cluster  16  is constructed of a plurality of multiple-beam blocks  14   a ,  14   b , . . . . By dividing the configuration into a plurality of unitized layers, units can be easily combined according to the level of the number of beams to be added. In other words, the number of beams of the multiple beam can be easily increased according to the level of the additional number. 
       FIG. 8  is a diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of an electron beam column according to the first embodiment. In each of the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . , an electron gun assembly  201 , a limiting aperture plate substrate  202 , a blanking deflector  204 , an electrostatic lens  205 , a limiting aperture plate substrate  206 , an electrostatic lens  208 , and an objective deflector  209  are arranged. The example of  FIG. 8  shows a case where the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . are individually configured by the electron gun assembly  201 , the limiting aperture plate substrate  202 , the blanking deflector  204 , the electrostatic lens  205 , the limiting aperture plate substrate  206 , the electrostatic lens  208 , and the objective deflector  209  being arranged in, for example, one cylindrical electron optical barrel (column). As shown in the example of  FIG. 8 , the electron gun assembly  201  serving as an independent irradiation source for irradiating an electron beam is individually arranged in each of the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . . Further, in each of the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . , the objective deflector  209  that deflects the corresponding electron beam to a desired position on the substrate  101  serving as a target object is individually arranged. Therefore, each of the multiple-beam sets  12  includes a plurality of electron gun assemblies  201  that irradiate independent electron beams and a plurality of objective deflectors  209  that deflect the corresponding electron beams to desired positions on the substrate  101 . Further, in the example of  FIG. 8 , a plurality of electrostatic lenses  205 ,  208  that guide the corresponding electron beams so as to focus on the substrate  101  are individually arranged in each of the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . it is assumed that the diameter of a region occupied by one electron beam column  10  is, for example, about 2 mm, and the distance from the tip of the electron gun assembly to the surface of the substrate  101  is, for example, about 20 mm. The acceleration voltage is, for example, 3 kV. Lenses with such a small structure can be manufactured by using MEMS technology or micro machining technology. 
     If it is assumed here that the stage moving direction is the x direction, when the minimum value of a deflection region in the y direction of a certain electron beam column  10  is y 1 , the maximum value thereof is y 2 , and the range in the y direction defined by y 1 ≤y≤y 2  is defined as wy, the y directional range covered by an entire range Wytot obtained by combining all wy is such that at least the range in the y direction where a pattern is to be written is covered and there is no gap. This makes it possible to expose the entire region where a pattern is to be written even by moving the stage only in the x direction. 
     In each of the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . , an electron beam  20  emitted from the electron gun assembly  201  (emission source) illuminates the limiting aperture plate substrate  202  as a whole. A rectangular or circular hole (opening) is formed in the center of the limiting aperture plate substrate  202 , and a portion of the electron beam  20  passes through such a hole, whereby a beam shape is formed. In this manner, a common voltage is applied to the plurality of electron gun assemblies  201  in the multiple-beam set  12  via the relay circuit  180  under the control of the power supply circuit  170 . In the example of  FIG. 8 , for example, a micro field electron source (field emission type electron gun assembly) is used as the electron gun assembly  201 . In the micro field electron source, an electron group emitted from an emitter (not shown) is accelerated by application of, in addition to the application of an acceleration voltage from the power supply circuit  170  to between the emitter and an extraction electrode (anode), a voltage of an extraction electrode (Wehnelt) before being emitted as the electron beam  20 . Because a common voltage is applied to the plurality of electron gun assemblies  201  from the same power supply circuit  170  (or the same relay circuit  180 ), the numbers of power supply systems and control systems can be greatly reduced as compared with the number of beams. However, the present embodiment is not limited to such a case. By controlling the voltage applied to the extraction electrode (Wehnelt) of each of the electron gun assemblies  201 , the current emitted from the emitter can be controlled. Further, the electron gun assemblies  201  may be ON/OFF controlled individually. Unlike the case where multiple beams are formed from a beam emitted from one electron gun assembly, the electron gun assembly  201  of each of the electron beams  20  is different and thus, an increase in output of each of the electron gun assemblies  201  is not dispersed to a plurality of beams so that the amount of current per beam can be greatly increased. Therefore, if the amount of current from each of the electron aun assemblies  201  is increased, the current amount of the entire multiple beams can be greatly increased. Therefore, the amount of current per unit area increases and the dose amount per unit time can be increased correspondingly. Therefore, the beam irradiation time for giving the dose amount necessary for resolving the resist on the substrate  101  can be greatly shortened, and the throughput can be improved. 
     The electron beam  20  having passed through the hole of the limiting aperture plate substrate  202  passes through the blanking deflector  204 . The blanking deflector  204  individually deflects (deflects by blanking) a passing electron beam  20 . The electron beam  20  that has not been deflected as beam ON by the blanking deflector  204  is reduced by the electrostatic lens  205  and advances toward the center hole formed in the limiting aperture plate substrate  206 . Here, the electron beam  20  (dotted line) deflected so as to be in a beam OFF state by the blanking deflector  204  deviates from the center hole of the limiting aperture plate substrate  206  and is shielded by the limiting aperture plate substrate  206 . On the other hand, the multiple electron beams  20  not deflected by the blanking deflector  204  pass, as shown in  FIG. 8 , through the center hole of the limiting aperture plate substrate  206 . Blanking control is performed by ON/OFF of the individual blanking mechanism (individual ON/OFF mechanism) constructed of the blanking deflector  204  and the limiting aperture plate substrate  206  to control ON/OFF of the beam. Then, a beam for one shot is formed by a beam formed between beam ON and beam OFF and having passed through the limiting aperture plate substrate  206 . In this way, a plurality of individual blanking mechanisms (individual ON/OFF mechanisms) in the multiple-beam set  12  is controlled by the deflection control circuit  130  to individually turn ON/OFF the beam irradiated from a corresponding electron gun assembly  201  as an irradiation source via the relay circuit  184 . Therefore, in each layer of the multiple-beam cluster  16 , the multiple-beam block  14 , and the multiple-beam set  12 , each beam is independently ON/OFF-controlled individually. 
     The electron beam  20  having passed through the limiting aperture plate substrate  206  is focused on the substrate  101  by the electrostatic lens  208  as an objective lens to become a pattern image of a desired reduction ratio. Then, the electron beam  20  having passed through the limiting aperture plate substrate  206  is deflected by the objective deflector  209  and a desired irradiation position on the substrate  101  is irradiated with the electron beam  20 . In  FIG. 8 , in order to suppress an increase in deflection aberration, an example is shown in which two-stage deflection with two stages of deflectors is adopted. 
       FIG. 9  is a sectional view showing an example of an electrostatic lens according to the first embodiment. One electrostatic lens  205  (or  208 ) is constructed of three-stage disc-like electrodes  17 ,  18 , and  19  having a central opening. A ground potential is applied to the upper and lower electrodes  17  and  19 , and the intensity of lens action for refracting electrons is adjusted by adjusting the potential of the electrode  18  in the center. In the example of  FIG. 8 , an electrostatic lens is used for reduction, projection, and objective lens, but the present embodiment is not limited thereto. An electromagnetic lens may be arranged. Alternatively, a combination of an electrostatic lens and an electromagnetic lens may also be arranged. In the example of  FIG. 8 , each of the electrostatic lenses  205  arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12  is suitably controlled commonly via the relay circuit  182  under the control of the lens control circuit  134 . Similarly, each of the electrostatic lenses  208  arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12  is suitably controlled commonly via the relay circuit  182  under the control of the lens control circuit  134 . With such a configuration, each electrostatic lens of the plurality of electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . in one multiple-beam set  12  can be controlled by distributing a common signal. Therefore, regardless of the number of the electron beam columns  10  constituting the multiple-beam set  12 , the control system can be simplified. 
     Especially when there is a distribution in the target object surface height, if the size of the area covered by the multiple-beam set is smaller than the width of the area in which one focus condition of the distribution of the target object surface height variation correction is allowed, the correction amount for the focus adjustment of the multiple-beam set may be common. Also when the dynamic focus correction is performed to change the potential distribution of the electrostatic lens electrode so that the blur of the electron beam on the target object surface becomes smaller in response to the target object surface height, it is possible to reduce the control power supply for dynamic focus correction by using a common power supply in the multiple-beam set. 
       FIG. 10  is a sectional view showing another example of the electrostatic lens according to the first embodiment. As shown in  FIG. 10 , electrostatic lenses can be used in multiple stages. This is effective for reducing the applied voltage. The same voltage can be applied to electrodes  18 ,  18   b , or different voltage outputs can be connected to apply different voltages. The number of stages can be further increased. The ground potential is applied to an electrode  17   b.    
       FIG. 11  is a top view showing an example of the relationship between objective deflectors and deflection amplifiers according to the first embodiment. The example of  FIG. 11  shows a case where the objective deflector  209  is constructed of, for example, eight electrodes  209 - 1  to  209 - 8 . By adjusting the potentials applied to the electrodes  209 - 1  to  209 - 8 , it is possible to deflect the electron beam  20  passing through the central portion surrounded by the eight electrodes  209 - 1  to  209 - 8 . In the example of  FIG. 11 , under the control of the deflection control circuit  130 , each of the objective deflectors  209  arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12  is controlled in common via the relay circuit  186  using the output from the common DAC amplifier  132 . More specifically, for example, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 1  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 1  is applied to electrodes  209 - 1  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . Similarly, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 2  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 2  is applied to electrodes  209 - 2  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . Similarly, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 3  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 3  is applied to electrodes  209 - 3  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . Similarly, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 4  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 4  is applied to electrodes  209 - 4  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . Similarly, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 5  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 5  is applied to electrodes  209 - 5  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . Similarly, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 6  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 6  is applied to electrodes  209 - 6  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . Similarly, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 7  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 7  is applied to electrodes  209 - 7  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . Similarly, the potential as output of the same DAC amplifier  132 - 8  distributed by the same relay circuit  186 - 8  is applied to electrodes  209 - 8  of the objective deflectors  209   a ,  209   b , arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12 . In this manner, a plurality of common DAC amplifiers  132 , which are common deflection amplifiers arranged for each of the multiple-beam sets  12 , controls a plurality of objective deflectors  209  arranged in the same multiple-beam set  12  in common. Therefore, regardless of the number of the electron beam columns  10  constituting the multiple-beam set  12 , control can be exercised by the same number of deflection amplifiers as the number of electrodes of the objective deflectors  209  constituting one electron beam column  10  in the multiple-beam set  12 . Therefore, when one objective deflector  209  is constructed of, for example, eight electrodes, eight DAC amplifiers  132  are required for each beam, but when, for example, 1800 beams are irradiated at a time as multiple beams, a situation where 14400 DAC amplifiers  132  are required and the control of the 14400 DAC amplifiers  132  is needed as in the past can be avoided. When the multiple-beam set  12  is constructed of nine electron beam columns  10  and, for example, 1800 beams irradiated at a time as multiple beams, 1600 DAC amplifiers  132  are adequate and the control of the 1600 DAC amplifiers  132  is adequate. If the number of the electron beam columns  10  constituting the multiple-beam set  12  increases, the number of the DAC amplifiers  132  and the number of the DAC amplifier  132  to be controlled can be further reduced. 
     In addition, it is possible to arrange a deflector for alignment and astigmatism correction for individual beams so that the trajectory can be finely adjusted. Such an individual alignment deflector is basically static and do not deflect during pattern writing operation so that the circuit can be greatly simplified. 
     Similarly, it is possible to provide an electrostatic lens for fine adjustment of the focal point. This is also basically static and the voltage is low so the circuit can be simplified. 
       FIG. 12  is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of chip regions formed on a semiconductor substrate according to the first embodiment. In  FIG. 12 , when the substrate  101  is a semiconductor substrate (wafer), a plurality of chip (wafer die) regions  332  is provided in a two-dimensional array in a pattern writing region  330  of the semiconductor substrate (wafer). In each of the chip regions  332 , the same pattern for one chip is directly written by the lithography apparatus  100  without going through a mask pattern. In the example of  FIG. 12 , each of the chip regions  332  is divided into, for example, a plurality of small regions  33  in a two-dimensional shape of m 2  columns in the width direction (x direction)×n 2  tiers in the length direction (y direction) (m 2  and n 2  are integers of 2 or greater). Each of the small regions  33  is further decomposed into pixels. The position of each pixel and the dose (beam irradiation time) are defined as beam irradiation time data. The plurality of multiple-beam sets  12  respectively writes different one or more of exposure pixel groups on the same substrate  101 . 
     Here, in the multiple-beam set for writing the vicinity of the boundary of the substrate  101 , there is a case in which different electron beams included in the same multiple-beam set may be respectively irradiated to different substrates. Further, in the electron beam column without the pixel of the exposure target, the electron beam is blanked (in a beam-off state) while there is no exposure target. 
     In addition, an exposure pixel group to be exposed by a different multiple-beam set  12  is arranged between exposure pixel groups exposed by one multiple-beam set  12 . Then, pattern writing processing of the substrate  101  is completed by the substrate  101  passes through irradiable regions of the plurality of multiple-beam sets  12 . A specific operation is as described below. 
     Pattern writing is performed while continuously moving the stage  105 . In the meantime, while one corresponding pixel is irradiated with each electron beam, the deflector  209  is used to deflect the electron beam according to the movement of the stage  105  so that the irradiation position of each electron beam is on the same pixel without deviating from the irradiated pixel on the surface of the substrate  101 . This is called stage tracking. Here, the stage position information is determined by using the stage position measuring mechanism  138 . The stage tracking is performed within a range not exceeding a given maximum deflection amount, and after the stage  105  moves a certain distance, the deflection position is returned to the next irradiation position near the initial deflection position. The above is repeated to write a pattern. The stage tracking may be configured so as to return to the vicinity of the initial deflection position every time one pixel is irradiated with an electron beam or to return to the next irradiation position near the initial deflection position after irradiating a plurality of pixels with an electron beam. The dose of an electron beam to each pixel is adjusted by independently adjusting the beam irradiation time of the beam to the substrate  101  surface by using a blanking means of each beam. Also, while moving between pixels, a blanking operation is performed so that all beams do not reach the target object surface. Because the stage moves continuously, control is exercised so that different pixels in the same small region are irradiated with electron beams of different multiple-beam blocks  14  and when the substrate  101  passes downstream of all multi-clusters  16 , all pixels on the substrate  101  are irradiated with an electron beam of a predetermined dose. In other words, there is a portion exposed to beams of the same multiple-beam block  14  among the pixel array within a small region, and there is a portion exposed to beams of different multiple-beam blocks  14 . In the following, for the sake of simplicity, the time needed to turn off a beam to return the deflection to its original is ignored. Also, the effect of the width of a frame used to fix the multiple-beam set  12  and the multiple-beam block  14  is ignored. 
     A case where all pixels with 10 nm pitches are exposed to an electron beam by assuming that, for example, one pixel corresponds to 10 nm square is considered. When the electron beam columns  10  capable of irradiating one pixel region with one electron beam are arranged in a square lattice as shown in  FIG. 2A  to  FIG. 2C  and the interval between the electron beam columns  10  is 2 mm, 4×10{circumflex over ( )}10 pixels are included in a region of 2 mm square surrounded by four adjacent electron beam columns  10 . In reality, the current distribution of an electron beam is not localized within 10 nm square and follows, for example, a Gaussian distribution, and about 80% of the current is present within 10 nm square. However, in order to simplify the description, the current is approximated as being localized within 10 nm square. The small region size is assumed to be 2 mm. A deflection region is assumed to be 10 μm square. Now, it is assumed that the stage speed to 10 mm/s, the effective current density (current density when the total current uniformly flows through 10 nm square) is 500 A/cm 2 , and the resist sensitivity is 50 uC/cm 2 . When written as single pattern writing, the beam irradiation time for one pixel is 100 ns. In the meantime, the stage  105  moves by 1 nm. 
       FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating an example of a pattern writing procedure according to the first embodiment. 
       FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating an example of the pattern writing procedure according to the first embodiment. As shown in  FIGS. 13 and 14 , while continuously moving the stage in the −x direction, the x-direction coordinate on the target object surface of an electron beam is fixed by deflection and then exposure is performed and after one pixel exposure, the electron beam is moved to the adjacent pixel in the y direction on the target object surface and exposure is performed, and this is continuously performed with the width of 10 μm. While 1,000 pixels aligned in the y direction to a width of 10 μm is exposed, the stage  105  moves by 1000×1 nm=1 μm in the −x direction. In the meantime, the electron beam is also deflected by 1 μm in the −x direction. Next, the electron beam is deflected by 1 μm in the x direction to return to the original x direction and y direction deflection position in the column to repeat the exposure. At this point, if the deflection position is not returned in the y direction, the deflection in the y direction during the next exposure can be made in the opposite direction to the previous exposure sequence. 
     The number of pixels included in the region of 10 μm×2 mm is 2×10{circumflex over ( )}8, and the time for the stage to move 2 mm is 0.2 sec. During this period, the number of pixels that can be irradiated is 2,000,000. Therefore, one deflection width region of the same small region is made to be irradiated with 2×10{circumflex over ( )}8/2×10{circumflex over ( )}6=100 different electron beams. Further, 2 mm/10 um=200 rows exist in a direction perpendicular to the stage advancing direction. Therefore, in the simplest model, it is necessary to irradiate 4×10{circumflex over ( )}10 pixels in the 2 mm×2 mm region with 100×200=20,000 different electron beams. Considering that 300 mm width is filled in this way, 20,000×300/2=3,000,000 electron beams are needed. At this point, it is necessary to arrange 150 rows of electron beams in the lateral direction and 200×100=20,000 rows of electron beams in the longitudinal direction. 
     At this point, it is not necessary to arrange 20,000 electron beam columns  10  in one 2-mm wide stripe. What is necessary is that all exposure pixels on the surface of the substrate  101  can be exposed, and an offset may be added to the position in a direction perpendicular to the stage advancing direction as appropriate under the condition satisfying the above situation. In this case, it is necessary to increase the beam at the extreme end by one row, but the influence on the entire system is small. Conversely, considering a positional error of the installation of the substrate  101 , the system desirably has as many electron beams as possible that can be made equal to or wider than the installation error of the substrate  101  as an exposable width of the electron beam. 
     In the simplest configuration that satisfies the condition, an electron beam array of 3,000,000 electron beams with a width of about 300 mm and a length of about 40 m is needed. 
     In another more realistic configuration, instead of arranging 20,000 rows of electron beams in the stage advancing direction, a beam array of a smaller size, for example, 2,000 rows is arranged in the advancing direction and the same effect as passing the 20,000 rows is effectively obtained by causing the same substrate  101  to pass below the same multiple-beam cluster  16  repeatedly 10 times or more. The length of a beam array of 2000 rows in the stage advancing direction is about 4 m, which is much larger than the size of the substrate  101 . Correspondingly, the number of the substrates  101  (for example, 300 mm wafers) having a diameter of, for example, 30 cm to be mounted on the lithography apparatus at a time is set to 14 or more (4 m/30 cm≈) from 13. 
     In order to implement such an operation, a plurality of wafers is arranged in a row on the stage and then, two methods of (1) the stage is made to reciprocate and (2) the stage is made to circulate and the wafers are circumferentially arranged can be considered. In both cases, by moving the wafer by the necessary moving distance, all pixels are made to be irradiated with an electron beam. Further, in (2), as an example of the circulating motion of the stage, making the stage operate in a circular shape and operate in a racetrack shape can be considered. By mounting a plurality of wafers and correspondingly operating a plurality of clusters, the effective current amount of the entire system can be increased so that the exposure time per wafer can be shortened. In the example described above, if the exposure is completed in one pass, ideally, the pattern writing time per wafer is calculated as 300 mm/10 mm/s to 30 sec. However, considering the dead time, the stage moving speed is slightly lower than the above value, so the pattern writing time is longer than the above value. When multiple rotations are performed, the required exposure time becomes longer approximately in proportion to the number of rotations. 
     For each beam, the deflection of each electron beam uses the same control voltage in at least one multiple-beam set  12  and only the exposure time is independently controlled. Accordingly, the number of deflection amplifiers required for deflection control can be greatly reduced. Also, the input/output unit can be simplified. 
     In the above example, the pitch of the exposure pixels is set to 10 nm, but it is also possible to make the pitch smaller. For example, exposure can be performed by performing double pattern writing in which the exposure pixel is 5 nm square and the electron beam is shifted by 5 nm. Alternatively, the exposure pitch can be increased. 
     In the above discussion, the conditions for the wafer dimensions of 300 mm square are considered to be given. Actually, the wafer shape is generally round and so the number of beams required in the x direction decreases at a position away from the center of the wafer in the y direction. Therefore, the shape of the beam cluster is not rectangular, and the multiple-beam block  14  may be arranged so that the width in the x direction decreases in stages with an increasing distance from the wafer center in the y direction. In this way, the shape of the cluster can be changed according to the shape of the target object. Further, for example, as shown in  FIG. 25 , when a plurality of parallelograms having the same shape and including a plurality of multiple-beam blocks  14  (for example, eight multiple-beam blocks  14 ) are connected at the upper side of the drawing, it is also possible to arrange the parallelograms so that the sides of parallelogram pairs are in contact with each other and the directions of the sides of other parallelogram pairs are staggered. Also in this configuration, the width in the x direction can be made substantially uniform. 
     In the pattern writing method described above, by continuously moving the stage during pattern writing and irradiating a small region with electron beams belonging to different multiple-beam sets  12 , multiple-beam blocks  14 , and multiple-beam clusters  16 , even when the beam pitch is much larger than the pixel size, pattern writing can be performed at high speed. Further, a plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  can be arranged beyond one target object area and so, a beam current of the entire system can be increased and the pattern writing time per wafer can be drastically shortened. 
     In order to make the stage movement in the y direction unnecessary, when the electron beam pitch is 2 mm and the deflection width is 10 μm, the movement can be made unnecessary if there are 2 mm/10 μm=100 rows of stage advancing direction beams. Therefore, using one set of the multiple-beam clusters  16  of 150 rows×100 rows as the minimum unit, a wafer can be exposed while reciprocating the stage. In this case, if the number of wafers is one, the ratio of the presence of unexposed regions of the wafer is high during pattern writing and so the pattern writing efficiency is low and therefore, it is desirable to always operate an electron beam by mounting two wafers on the stage. 
     In the above discussion, an ideal apparatus has been described, but in practice, an error occurs in the pattern writing position due to various factors and beam exposure regions do not densely align so that gaps are formed or overlapping arises. Further, there is a case in which a defective electron beam column which cannot obtain electron beam emission from the electron gun assembly is included. When there is a reproducible error in the electron beam irradiation position, the occurrence of defects can be prevented by, for example, increasing the multiplicity of beam exposure so that the beam can be exposed to all pixels and then reallocating the exposure amount. For example, if eight-fold pattern writing is adopted and an extra time of about 15% is allocated to each exposure time, maximal one non-exposure can be made up by the seven remaining exposures. The multiple pattern writing method is also effective to suppress the influence of errors that are not reproducible. Further, when the number of electron beam columns is redundant so that a part of the electron beam columns is generally blanked (in a beam-off state), the pixel position to be irradiated by the defective electron beam column can be exposed only at the exposure enabled timing. 
     An example of a data processing method when pattern drawing on a wafer is performed by a lithography apparatus including a plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  will be described below. 
     First, when pattern writing is performed using a pattern writing system including the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16 , for each beam, the pixel to be exposed and the contribution to the pixel are determined. 
     Generally, the deflection position is adjusted so as to coincide with the pixel to be exposed, but it is difficult to make the pixel to be exposed coincide with the beam irradiation position for all beams belonging to one multiple-beam set  12  due to individual differences of the deflector. When the beam center and the pixel center coincide with each other, 1 is set and when it deviates, a real number is set according to the dose to the pixel. The real number is usually equal to or less than 1. Generally, if apparatus conditions do not change, the allocation is common to all pattern writing. This allocation work may be done once. 
     Next, the exposure amount distribution on each wafer is determined based on design data of LSI to be written on the wafer. When the same LSI pattern is arranged side by side on the wafer and written, the simplest method is to find the exposure amount distribution for one LSI and arrange the distribution according to the arrangement of the LSI pattern. Generally, the optimum exposure amount for suppressing the influence of process error changes depending on the location on the wafer even for the same LSI pattern. When this correction is needed, the exposure distribution including the correction is determined. 
     Next, the dose for each irradiation position of each beam is determined from the relationship between the exposure amount distribution given to each pixel and the previously determined contribution of each beam. This calculation generally takes calculation time and so, the calculation time is saved by appropriate approximations. When the deviation between the beam irradiation position and the exposure pixel is small, pattern writing can be performed by making approximations that the beam irradiation position and the exposure pixel center coincide and further, making the dose coincide with the dose allocated to the exposure pixel. When the whole blur is a combination of a beam blur and a process blur, the entire blur due to one electron beam is larger than the exposure pixel in many cases and so, even in this case as well, the deviation of the obtained dose distribution from the desired dose distribution is small. 
     Pattern writing is performed based on the beam irradiation time at each irradiation position of each obtained beam. 
     When the gradation of the dose may be small, for example, eight gradations may be used for eight-fold pattern writing and there is no need to consider the influence of a beam irradiation position error, switching whether or not to irradiate each beam is performed so that the beam irradiation time of all beams to be irradiated can be made to be the same. In this case, the dose control system can be greatly simplified. 
     For example, it is conceivable to arrange 15 multiple-beam clusters  16  of 150 rows×150 rows as a method of implementing a beam array of 2000 rows or more in the advancing direction. Further, by constructing each of the multiple-beam clusters  16  as, for example, the multiple-beam blocks  14  of 50 rows×50 rows and further, each of the multiple-beam blocks  14  as the multiple-beam sets  12  of 10 rows×10 rows, it is extremely effective from the viewpoint of the structure of the apparatus and maintenance to adopt a configuration in which each beam set, each of the multiple-beam blocks  14 , and each of the multiple-beam clusters  16  is removable from the main body system. It is desirable to provide a contact point of a deflection signal in the connecting portion of the multiple-beam set  12  to the multiple-beam block  14  by setting the deflection operation as a block unit operation. Also, it is possible to fine-tune the control of the electrostatic lens by adopting the multiple-beam set  12  as the unit of control. 
     By adopting a structure having a hierarchy like this, it becomes easy to expand the system, and the size and the number of the multiple-beam clusters  16  are changed according to the desired target object size and exposure time. 
       FIG. 15  is a diagram showing an example of a pattern writing technique when a pattern is written in a small region in the chip region in the first embodiment with the multiple-beam set. The example of  FIG. 15  shows a case where the multiple-beam set  12  is constructed of, for example, 3×3 electron beam columns  10 . Thus, the multiple-beam set  12  can irradiate, for example, 3×3 multiple beams. In the example of  FIG. 15 , the size in the y direction of a small region  33  in the chip region  332  is divided by the number of beams ( 9 ) of the multiple-beam set  12  into a plurality of stripe regions in a strip form. Then, the multiple-beam image is rotated at an angle at which each of the electron beams  20  of 3×3 multiple beams can take charge of one stripe region at a time. This can be implemented by arranging the phase of the multiple-beam set  12  at an angle with respect to the stage advancing direction. Alternatively, beam groups each being three beams arranged in the y direction may be arranged in parallel at equal pitches in the x direction, and each beam group arranged in the x direction may be arranged to shift in order by the width of the stripe in the y direction.  FIG. 15  shows an example in which the width of each stripe is within the deflection width and the stage  105  is continuously moved, for example, in the −x direction. Accordingly, the electron beams  20   a ,  20   b ,  20   c , . . . write a pattern while raster-scanning the stripe region in charge according to the movement of the stage  105 . More specifically, it is sufficient to turn on the beam at the position where a pattern is present and to turn off the beam at the position where no pattern is present. 
     In  FIG. 15 , the position exposed to each beam is indicated by a solid line. Each electron beam is deflected in the −x direction according to the moving speed of the stage and moves in the y direction after completion of exposure of one pixel. After exposure of an edge pixel, each beam is deflected in the x direction to return to the original deflection position and resumes pattern writing. In this example, a case where the stage moves in the −x direction by the same distance as the stripe width when the exposure in the y direction is completed. On the target object surface, y-direction straight lines as the exposure stripes are aligned in the x direction at regular intervals. It should be noted that this is an example, and it is not absolutely necessary for the exposure regions to be arranged consecutively in the y direction. A region not covered with a line remains in the stripe region, indicating that the chip region  332  as a whole cannot be exposed while the stage passes once. The exposure positions of beams of different multiple-beam sets  12  are made different from the exposure positions of other multiple-beam sets  12 , and the unexposed regions are exposed by subsequent multiple-beam sets  12 . Hereinafter, when the multiple-beam set  12  passes through a certain small region once, a set of pixels exposed by a certain beam belonging to the multiple-beam set  12  is called an exposure pixel group belonging to the small region and corresponding to the beam. By exposing all exposure pixel groups within the small region, all pixels within the small region are exposed. There may be an overlap of exposure pixel groups corresponding to different beams. 
     Also, in order to check the soundness of the system, it is desirable to provide a beam measuring means outside a target object position on the stage. It is desirable to be able to measure the beam current, position, and beam blur of individual beams by the beam measuring means. The soundness of each electron beam can be checked by passing a measuring means installation region under the whole electron beams during exposure or before or after exposure. When a beam in which an abnormality occurs is found, for example, a spare column that is not normally used is provided and the emission of the electron beam from the column where the abnormality has occurred is stopped and supplemented by the spare column instead. If the number of abnormal columns increases beyond a certain number, the system is stopped to replace the multiple-beam set  12  including abnormal beams. The multiple-beam set  12  that has been removed is kept as a spare multiple-beam set  12  after the abnormal column is repaired or replaced. 
     As a specific configuration of the beam measuring means, it is sufficient to include a Faraday cup for current measurement, an opening type mark for position measurement, and a Faraday cup with a knife edge. 
       FIG. 16  is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of performing continuous pattern writing on a plurality of substrates according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 16 , the stage  105  has a plurality of substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e  arranged side by side in the moving direction (−x direction). Then, by moving the stage  105  in the −x direction, the plurality of substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e  on the stage  105  can be moved in the −x direction. In the example of  FIG. 16 , the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  is arranged in the same direction as the moving direction of the plurality of substrates  101  so that the plurality of substrates  101  sequentially passes through the irradiation region of each of the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16 . The multiple-beam clusters  16  write patterns on mutually different substrates  101  at the same time. In other words, the plurality of multiple-beam sets  12  is arranged in the same direction as the moving direction of the plurality of substrates  101 . In this example, there is a case in which the electron beam column included in the adjacent multiple-beam clusters  16  may write different positions of the same substrate  101  or adjacent substrates  101 . When the size of the multiple-beam cluster in the stage advancing direction is smaller than the substrate  101 , there is a case in which three or more multiple-beam clusters  16  write the same substrate  101 . Load-lock (L/L) chamber systems  300   a ,  300   b  for loading the substrate  101  into the pattern writing chamber  102  and unloading the substrate  101  out of the pattern writing chamber  102  are arranged in front and behind the moving direction of the stage  105 . The plurality of substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e  sequentially loaded from the L/L chamber system  300   a  to the stage  105  are sequentially moved in the −x direction in accordance with the movement of the stage  105 . Each beam belonging to the multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c  writes an exposure pixel group corresponding to each beam for each small region in each of the substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e  by sequentially moving into its irradiation region. By writing a pattern in this manner, exposure is generally performed by beams belonging to a plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  for one small region. A plurality of multi-columns continuously writes a pattern on a plurality of substrates  101  while the plurality of substrates  101  moves in the moving direction. Then, the pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is completed by each of the substrates  101  passes through the irradiable region of the plurality of multi-columns (here, three multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ). If exposure of all pixels is not completed in one movement, the stage is further reciprocated as many times as necessary to expose all pixels. The substrate  101  on which the pattern writing processing has been completed is sequentially unloaded from the pattern writing chamber  102  to the outside by the L/L chamber system  300   b . As described above, by configuring irradiation regions of the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c  aligned in the moving direction so that the plurality of substrates  101  passes therethrough continuously, the pattern writing processing is continuously performed and a large amount of semiconductor substrates can be manufactured. In the first embodiment, the size of the small region  33  is reduced regardless of the number of the chip regions  332  formed on one substrate  101  and by adding the multiple-beam set  12  correspondingly, the throughput can further be improved. Therefore, semiconductor wafers can be mass-produced. 
       FIG. 17  is a diagram illustrating another example of the method of performing continuous pattern writing on the plurality of substrates according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 17 , the stage  105  rotates (θ direction) about the center axis and a plurality of substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e ,  101   f  is arranged side by side on a circulating track. Then, by rotating the stage  105 , the plurality of substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e ,  101   f  on the stage  105  can continuously be moved along the circulating track. In the example of  FIG. 17 , a plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  is arranged along the circulating track of a plurality of substrates  101  so that the plurality of substrates  101  sequentially passes through the irradiation regions of each of the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16 . In other words, the plurality of multiple-beam sets  12  is arranged in the same direction as the moving direction of the plurality of substrates  101 . The L/L chamber system  300   a  for loading each of the substrates  101  into the pattern writing chamber  102  is arranged at one place on the circulating track. Then, the L/L chamber system  300   b  for unloading each of the substrates  101  from the pattern writing chamber  102  is arranged in front of the L/L chamber system  300   a  by moving on the circulating track. The plurality of substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e ,  101   f  sequentially loaded from the L/L chamber system  300   a  to the stage  105  is sequentially moved on the circulating track in accordance with the movement of the stage  105 . Each beam belonging to the multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d  writes an exposure pixel group corresponding to each beam for each small region in each of the substrates  101   a ,  101   b ,  101   c ,  101   d ,  101   e ,  101   f  by sequentially moving into its irradiation region. In the example of  FIG. 17 , pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is started from the location (predetermined location) of the multiple-beam cluster  16   a  on the circulating track and a plurality of multi-columns (here, multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ) writes a pattern on the plurality of substrates  101  such that the pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is completed before each of the substrates  101  returns to a location (in front of the predetermined location) of the multiple-beam cluster  16   d  by moving on the circulating track. In other words, a plurality of multi-columns (here, four multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ) writes a pattern on a plurality of substrates so that the pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is completed by the time when each of the substrates  101  makes one turn on the circulating track. Further in other words, each of the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  writes a pattern on a different one of substrates  101  at the same time. By a pattern being written by the multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d  in this manner, exposure is generally performed by beams belonging to a plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16  for one small region. A plurality of multi-columns continuously writes a pattern on a plurality of substrates  101  while the plurality of substrates  101  moves in the moving direction. Then, the pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is completed by each of the substrates  101  passing through the irradiable region of the plurality of multi-columns (here, four multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ). If exposure of all pixels is not completed in one rotation, the stage is further rotated as many times as necessary to expose all pixels. In other words, the plurality of multiple-beam sets  12  writes a pattern on a plurality of substrates  101  so that the pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is completed by the time when each of the substrates  101  makes one turn or a plurality of turns on the circulating track. 
     In a state where the plurality of substrates  101  is continuously moved in the predetermined direction, each multiple-beam set  12  sequentially writes a portion of the pattern on a different one or more of exposure pixel groups in a same small region on a same substrate  101 . The small region is smaller than each die region  332  of a plurality of die regions  332  to form a same pattern, and the plurality of die regions is provided on each substrate  101  of the plurality of substrates. The substrate  101  on which the pattern writing processing has been completed is sequentially unloaded from the pattern writing chamber  102  to the outside by the L/L chamber system  300   b . As described above, by configuring irradiation regions of the plurality of multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d  aligned in the moving direction so that the plurality of substrates  101  passes therethrough continuously, the pattern writing processing is continuously performed and a large amount of semiconductor substrates can be manufactured. In the first embodiment, the size of the small region  33  is reduced regardless of the number of the chip regions  332  formed on one substrate  101  and by adding the multiple-beam set  12  correspondingly, the throughput can further be improved. Therefore, semiconductor wafers can be mass-produced. The number of pixels that can be exposed can be increased by makes a plurality of turns. At this point, it is desirable to suppress an increase in exposure time by increase the rotation speed in accordance with the number of turns. 
       FIG. 18  is a diagram illustrating still another example of the method of performing continuous pattern writing on the plurality of substrates according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 17 , the case where the L/L chamber systems  300   a ,  300   b  for loading/unloading the substrate  101  are arranged on the circulating track has been described, but the present embodiment is not limited thereto. In the example of  FIG. 18 , the multiple-beam cluster  16  is arranged also in the arrangement locations of the L/L chamber system  300   a ,  300   b  for loading/unloading the substrate  101  on the circulating track. Thus, for example, six multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ,  16   e ,  16   f  can be arranged on the same circulating track. The L/L chamber systems  300   a ,  300   b  may be arranged at locations deviating from the circulating track. Alternatively, six substrates  101  may first be loaded into the irradiatable regions of the six multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ,  16   e ,  16   f  and then, the stage  105  may be rotated. Then, pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is started from the multiple-beam cluster (for example, the multiple-beam cluster  16   a ) where each of the substrates  101  is first arranged and a plurality of multi-columns (here, multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ,  16   e ,  16   f ) writes a pattern on the plurality of substrates  101  such that the pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is completed before each of the substrates  101  returns to the last multiple-beam cluster (for example, the multiple-beam cluster  16   f ) by moving on the circulating track. In other words, a plurality of multi-columns (here, six multiple-beam clusters  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d ,  16   e ,  16   f ) writes a pattern on the plurality of substrates  101  so that the pattern writing processing of each of the substrates  101  is completed by the time when each of the substrates  101  makes one turn on the circulating track. Since the number of beams is larger than in the example of  FIG. 17 , the throughput can be further improved. In this case as well, when exposure of all pixels is not completed by one rotation, the stage is further rotated as many times as necessary to expose all pixels. 
     In the examples of  FIGS. 17 and 18 , the plurality of substrates  101  moves along the circulating track, but each of the substrates  101  may be turned so as to rotate along with the movement on the circulating track. By rotating the substrate, it is possible to increase the types of electron beam columns that irradiate other pixels in the vicinity of each pixel on the substrate with an electron beam and the deviations of electron beam column characteristics in the apparatus can thereby be averaged. In this case, since the phase of the arrangement of the electron beam column and the arrangement of pixels on the substrate change with time, it is impossible to perform stage tracking in a strict sense, but the change of phase shifts is slower than the exposure time of one pixel and so is negligible because the influence thereof on an exposure amount distribution error is small. Further, when allocating the exposure amount to each electron beam column, the accuracy of the exposure distribution control can further be increased by considering an error of stage tracking due to the phase shift. 
       FIG. 19  is a diagram showing another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment.  FIG. 19  shows an example in which the downstream electrostatic lens has two stages ( 207 ,  208 ) and the deflector  209  is arranged closer to the target object side than the downstream electrostatic lens. In the example of  FIG. 19 , a case where a photoelectron source is used as the electron gun assembly  201  in each of the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . . Other configurations are the same as in  FIG. 8 . It should be noted that the scales and the like are not matched between  FIG. 19  and  FIG. 8 . In the photoelectron source, an acceleration voltage is applied from a high-voltage power supply  172  in the power supply circuit  170  to between an emitter  23  of which tip is pointed and an extraction electrode (anode)  22  and also ultraviolet light is irradiated (excited) from an LED array circuit  174  in the relay circuit  180  (or the power supply circuit  170 ) to the rear side of the emitter  23  to emit the electron beam  20  from the emitter  23 . Because a supply voltage is applied to the plurality of electron gun assemblies  201  from the same power supply circuit  170  (or the same relay circuit  180 ) and also ultraviolet light is irradiated from the same relay circuit  180  (or the same power supply circuit  170 ), the numbers of power supply systems and control systems can be greatly reduced as compared with the number of beams. However, the present embodiment is not limited to such a case. The electron gun assemblies  201  may be ON/OFF controlled individually. Unlike the case where multiple beams are formed from a beam emitted from one electron gun assembly, the electron gun assembly  201  of each of the electron beams  20  is different and thus, an increase in output of each of the electron gun assemblies  201  is not dispersed to a plurality of beams so that the amount of current per beam can be greatly increased. Therefore, if the amount of current from each of the electron gun assemblies  201  is increased, the current amount of the entire multiple beams can be greatly increased. Therefore, the amount of current per unit area increases and the dose amount per unit time can be increased correspondingly. Therefore, the beam irradiation time for giving the dose amount necessary for resolving the resist on the substrate  101  can be greatly shortened, and the throughput can be improved. 
       FIG. 20  is a diagram showing still another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 20 , a case where an MIM (metal-insulator-metal) type electron source is used as the electron gun assembly  201  in the electron beam columns  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c , . . . . Other configurations are the same as in  FIG. 8 . It should be noted that the scales and the like are not matched between  FIG. 20  and  FIG. 8 . In the MIM type electron source, an acceleration voltage is applied from the high-voltage power supply  172  in the power supply circuit  170  to between an emitter  21  and the extraction electrode (anode)  22  and also a voltage is applied from the high-voltage power supply  172  to between an upper electrode and a lower electrode (gate electrode) of the emitter  21  to emit the electron beam  20  from the emitter  21 . A gate pulse generator  176  may be arranged between the high-voltage power supply  172  and the lower electrode (gate electrode) to output a pulse signal so that the electron gun assemblies  201  may be ON/OFF controlled individually. Because a supply voltage is applied to the plurality of electron gun assemblies  201  from the same power supply circuit  170  (or the same relay circuit  180 ), the numbers of power supply systems and control systems can be greatly reduced as compared with the number of beams. Also, unlike the case where multiple beams are formed from a beam emitted from one electron gun assembly, the electron gun assemblies  201  of the respective electron beams  20  are different and so an increase in output of each of the electron gun assemblies  201  is not dispersed into a plurality of beams and the amount of current per beam can be greatly increased. Therefore, if the amount of current from each of the electron gun assemblies  201  is increased, the current amount of the entire multiple beams can be greatly increased. Therefore, the amount of current per unit area increases and so the amount of dose per unit time can be increased correspondingly, as in the case described above. 
       FIG. 21  is a diagram showing still another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment. In the above example in  FIG. 8  and the like, the case where the electron gun assembly  201 , the limiting aperture plate substrate  202 , the blanking deflector  204 , the electrostatic lens  205 , the limiting aperture plate substrate  206 , the electrostatic lens  207 , the electrostatic lens  208 , and the objective deflector  209  are arranged in, for example, a cylindrical electron optical barrel (electron beam column  10 ), but the present embodiment is not limited thereto. In the example of  FIG. 21 , the electron gun assembly  201 , the limiting aperture plate substrate  202 , and the blanking deflector  204  are arranged in, for example, a single cylindrical electron optical barrel (electron beam column  10 ), and the electrostatic lens  205 , the limiting aperture plate substrate  206 , the electrostatic lens  207 , the electrostatic lens  208 , and the objective deflector  209  are arranged for each beam in a common space in the multiple-beam set  12 . In the example of  FIG. 21 , an illustration of the limiting aperture plate substrate  206  is omitted. With such a configuration, each of the electrostatic lenses  205  in the multiple-beam set  12  can be formed of a common substrate. Likewise, each of the electrostatic lenses  207  in the multiple-beam set  12  can be formed of a common substrate. Likewise, each of the electrostatic lenses  208  in the multiple-beam set  12  can be formed of a common substrate. Further, each of the objective deflectors  209  in the multiple-beam set  12  can be arranged on a common substrate. Therefore, the multiple-beam set  12  can be formed more easily. 
       FIG. 22  is a diagram showing still another example of the internal configuration of the electron beam column according to the first embodiment. In the example of  FIG. 22 , a case where a partition wall  210  is arranged between beams in the arrangement space of the electrostatic lenses  205 ,  207 ,  208 , in addition to the configuration in  FIG. 21 , is shown. By arranging the partition walls  210  between beams, an electric field generated by the electrostatic lenses can be prevented from affecting adjacent beams. Because the partition wall is intended for electric field shielding, evacuation efficiency can be increased by using, for example, a grid structure. 
       FIG. 23  is a top view showing an example of an electrostatic lens array according to the first embodiment. 
       FIG. 24  is a sectional view showing an example of the electrostatic lens array according to the first embodiment. As shown in  FIGS. 23 and 24 , each of the electrostatic lenses  205 ,  207 ,  208  is formed of a common substrate  212  ( 213 ,  214 ) in the multiple-beam set  12 . Each passing hole  211  is formed at each beam passing position in such a common substrate. In the example of  FIG. 23 , for example, when the multiple-beam set  12  is configured by the configuration necessary for forming 3×3 beams, 3×3 through holes  211  are formed. Besides, the electrostatic lenses  205 ,  207  and  208  are all formed of three stages of electrodes. In the example of  FIG. 24 , in the multiple-beam set  12 , the electrostatic lens array is formed of common three-stage substrates  212 ,  213 ,  214 . By applying the ground potential to the upper and lower common substrates  212 ,  214  and adjusting the potential applied to the middle common substrate  213 , the lens action for each beam in the multiple-beam set  12  is controlled to be supplied. When, as shown in the example of  FIG. 22 , the partition walls  210  are arranged between the beams, as shown in  FIGS. 23 and 24 , a plurality of partition walls  210  may be arranged in a grid pattern. 
     Next, the operation of actual pattern writing processing using pattern writing data input from outside the lithography apparatus  100  and stored in the storage device  140  will be described step by step. 
     As an area ratio map creation process (rasterization process), a rasterization unit  50  reads pattern writing data from the storage device  140  and calculates a pattern area density p′ in a pixel for each of a plurality of pixels (irradiation unit regions) obtained by dividing a pattern writing region of the substrate  101  by a size equal to, for example, a beam size into a mesh shape. The processing is performed for, for example, each of the chip regions  332 . 
     As a dose calculation process, the dose calculation unit  52  first virtually divides the pattern writing region (here, for example, the chip region  332 ) by a predetermined size into a plurality of proximity mesh regions (mesh region for proximity effect correction calculation) in a mesh shape. The size of the proximity mesh region is suitably set to about 1/10 of the range of influence of the proximity effect, for example, about 1 μm. The dose calculation unit  52  reads the pattern writing data from the storage device  140  and calculates the pattern area density p of the pattern arranged in the relevant proximity mesh region for each proximity mesh region. 
     Next, the dose calculation unit  52  calculates a proximity effect correction irradiation coefficient Dp (x) (corrected dose) to correct the proximity effect for each proximity mesh region. The unknown proximity effect correction irradiation coefficient Dp (x) can be defined by a threshold model for proximity effect correction similar to the conventional approach using the backscattering coefficient η, the dose threshold value Dth of the threshold model, the pattern area density p, and the distribution function g (x). 
     Next, the dose calculation unit  52  calculates an incident dose D (x) (dose amount) to irradiate the relevant pixel for each pixel. For example, the incident dose D (x) may be calculated as a value obtained by multiplying the preset reference dose Dbase by the proximity effect correction irradiation coefficient Dp and the pattern area density ρ′. The reference dose Dbase can be defined by, for example, Dth/(½+η). From the above, the desired incident dose D (x) corrected for the proximity effect based on the layout of a plurality of figure patterns defined in the pattern writing data can be obtained. 
     Then, the dose calculation unit  52  creates a beam irradiation time data map defining the beam irradiation time for each pixel obtained by converting the incident dose D (x) for each pixel into the beam irradiation time t gradated in the predetermined quantization unit A. The created beam irradiation time data map is stored in, for example, the storage device  142 . 
     As a beam irradiation time data processing process, a beam irradiation time data processing unit  54  reads and rearranges the beam irradiation time data map in the order of shots according to the pattern writing sequence in the first embodiment. Then, the beam irradiation time data is transferred to the deflection control circuit  130  in the order of shots. 
     As a pattern writing process, the deflection control circuit  130  outputs a blanking control signal to each of the blanking deflectors  204  in the order of shots via the relay circuit  184  and also outputs a deflection control signal to the DAC amplifier  132  in the order of shots. Then, while the stage  105  is continuously moved under the control of the stage drive circuit  139 , the pattern writing mechanism  150  writes a pattern on the substrate  101  using a bundle (multiple beams) of the electron beam  20  irradiated from each of the electron beam columns  10 . 
     According to the first embodiment, as described above, the multiple-beam cluster  16 , the multiple-beam block  14 , the multiple-beam set  12 , and the multi-column are unitized for each layer and thus, it is easy to add such units as necessary and the total electron beam current can be increased. Further, according to the first embodiment, the irradiation region of the respective multiple-beam sets  12  is divided by the small region  33  smaller than the chip region  332  and thus, the multiple-beam cluster  16 , the multiple-beam block  14 , or the multiple-beam set  12  that is unitized can be expanded according to the required throughput. Further, according to the first embodiment, a plurality of substrates  101  can be sequentially passed through the irradiation region of each of the multiple-beam clusters  16  that are formed as a production line. Therefore, throughput of multiple-beam pattern writing can be improved and semiconductor substrates (wafers) can be mass-produced. 
     When writing an LSI pattern on a wafer, overlay accuracy becomes important. In this connection, for example, the overlay accuracy can be secured by doing as follows. First, at least three alignment marks are provided on each wafer. Then, after mounting the wafers on the stage, the wafers are moved and the stage is operated and if a certain wafer is focused on, the wafer is moved to a plurality of positions (referred to as stage positions), and at each stage position, the position and orientation of the wafer are measured. The measurement can be made by, for example, providing a plurality of optical microscopes between the multiple-beam clusters  16 . Further, a portion of the electron beam column can be operated for measurement to determine the mark position from a reflected electron signal obtained by irradiating the mark with an electron beam. Further, the height of the mark is determined using a z sensor using an optical lever. Based on the position, orientation, and height of each wafer at each stage position thus obtained, pattern writing data is corrected and written. Further, accuracy can be improved by arranging many marks at the boundary of, for example, a die, measuring high order distortion, and correcting the pattern writing data based on the measurement. The measurement is made prior to pattern writing, and in that case, the stage is moved at the same speed as the pattern writing speed. Also, by making the stage speed faster than the pattern writing speed, the time taken for measurement can be shortened. 
     In the foregoing, an embodiment has been described with reference to concrete examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these concrete examples. In the above example, for example, the case where the objective deflector  209  uses one-stage deflection is shown, but the present embodiment is not limited thereto. The objective deflector  209  may use multistage deflection of two or more stages. 
     Portions of the apparatus configuration, the control method and the like that are not needed directly for the description of the present disclosure are omitted, but a necessary apparatus configuration and a necessary control method can be appropriately selected and used. For example, a control unit configuration that controls the lithography apparatus  100  is not described, but a necessary control unit configuration is appropriately selected and used, as a matter of course. 
     In addition, all charged particle beam lithography apparatuses and charged particle beam pattern writing methods including elements of the present disclosure and the design of which can appropriately be changed by a person skilled in the art are included in the scope of the present disclosure. 
     Additional advantages and modification will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.