Patent ID: 8153991

Claim:
A method of producing a pattern on a substrate in an in vacuum space maskless lithography system using a plurality of simultaneously scanning electron beams, wherein a substrate is moved in a scan direction Ss on a wafer stage, while each electron beam is scanned in a direction Sm substantially perpendicular to the scan direction Ss, wherein data are retrieved from data storage on at least one computer system, said data representing the pattern to be produced on said substrate, said data being processed in said at least one computer system and converted into electrical signals activating and de-activating individually controllable light sources for producing light to be received by an activation area of a lithography system using a plurality of simultaneous scanning electron beams, for controlling the same, said at least one computer and said light sources being located outside the vacuum space, said light being transmitted to the lithographic system by optical fibers, the number of fibers influenced by the use of multiplexing and de-multiplexing, each optical fiber having one end producing a light spot which is projected within the lithography system by means of free space light beam imaging and another end arranged for receiving light from said light sources, wherein the end for producing a light spot of each optical fiber is provided with a microlens at its tip; said light sources being activated and deactivated on the basis of electrical signals generated by said at least one computer system on the basis of said data to be processed by said lithography system comprised in said at least one computer system, and wherein each light spot is imaged on an activation area in said lithography system, and each imaged light spot is aligned with a corresponding activation area in order to prevent activation of a neighboring activation area.