Multi charged particle beam lithography method and multi charged particle beam lithography apparatus

Abstract

To stabilize a temperature of a molding aperture array substrate.SOLUTION: A multi charged particle beam lithography method includes the steps of: discharging a multi charged particle beam and using a plurality of blankers provided in a blanking aperture array substrate to switch ON / OFF of a predetermined beam in the multi charged particle beam; and transferring control data for controlling ON / OFF of each beam of the multi charged particle beam to a control circuit of the blanking aperture array substrate while moving a stage which is installed in a lithography chamber, and drawing a pattern by irradiating a lithography target substrate, which is mounted on the stage, with the multi charged particle beam based on the control data. The control circuit is operated during a beam non-irradiation time in which the lithography target substrate is not irradiated with the multi charged particle beam.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a multi-charged particle beam writing method and a multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] As LSIs become more highly integrated, the circuit line width required for semiconductor devices has become finer year by year. To form the desired circuit pattern on a semiconductor device, a method is adopted in which a high-precision original pattern (called a mask, or, in particular, a reticle used in steppers and scanners) formed on a light-shielding film on a glass substrate is reduced and transferred onto a wafer using a reduction projection exposure system. To create the high-precision original pattern, a technique known as electron beam lithography is used, in which a resist pattern is formed using an electron beam writing system.

[0003] A multi-beam lithography system can irradiate many beams at once compared to lithography using a single electron beam, thereby significantly improving throughput. In a multi-beam lithography system using a blanking aperture array substrate, for example, electron beams emitted from an electron gun are passed through a shaping aperture array substrate with multiple openings to form multiple beams (multiple electron beams). The multiple beams pass through corresponding blankers on the blanking aperture array substrate. The blanking aperture array substrate has electrode pairs for individually deflecting the beams, with openings formed between the electrode pairs for beam passage. Blanking deflection of the passing electron beams is performed by controlling the electrode pairs (blankers) to the same potential or to different potentials. The electron beams deflected by the blankers are blocked, while the undeflected electron beams are irradiated onto the sample.

[0004] The blanking aperture array substrate is equipped with a control circuit for controlling the on / off of each beam, and the current flowing through the control circuit in response to data transfer causes the temperature of the blanking aperture array substrate to rise.When the temperature of the blanking aperture array substrate rises, the shaping aperture array substrate is deformed by radiant heat, causing the position of the shaped beam to fluctuate and reducing the drawing accuracy.

[0005] During the drawing process, the amount of data transferred to the blanking aperture array substrate fluctuates, so the amount of heat generated by the blanking aperture array substrate does not remain constant, and even if a cooling system is installed to cool the shaping aperture array substrate, it is difficult to stabilize the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-84865 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-191199 [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication No. 2021-132065 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-charged particle beam writing method and a multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus that can stabilize the temperature of a shaping aperture array substrate. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A multi-charged particle beam writing method according to one aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of: emitting a multi-charged particle beam; switching on / off predetermined beams of the multi-charged particle beam using a plurality of blankers provided on a blanking aperture array substrate; transferring control data for controlling on / off of each beam of the multi-charged particle beam to a control circuit of the blanking aperture array substrate while moving a stage installed in a writing chamber; and irradiating a writing target substrate placed on the stage with the multi-charged particle beam based on the control data to write a pattern, wherein the control circuit is operated during beam non-irradiation when the multi-charged particle beam is not irradiated onto the writing target substrate.

[0009] A multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes an emission unit that emits a multi-charged particle beam; a blanking aperture array substrate having a plurality of blankers that respectively correspond to each beam of the multi-charged particle beam and turn each beam on and off; a movable stage that is installed in a writing chamber and on which a writing target substrate to be irradiated with the multi-charged particle beam is placed; a data transfer unit that transfers control data for controlling the on / off of each beam of the multi-charged particle beam to a control circuit of the blanking aperture array substrate; and a control unit that controls the plurality of blankers and the data transfer unit, wherein the control unit operates the control circuit during beam non-irradiation, i.e., when the multi-charged particle beam is not irradiated onto the writing target substrate. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate can be stabilized, and the drawing accuracy can be improved. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a shaped aperture array substrate. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a drawing area on a substrate. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating beam tracking control. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a blanking aperture array substrate. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an input / output circuit and a cell array circuit. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an individual blanking mechanism. [Figure 8] FIG. 8A is a graph showing an example of temperature change in a shaping aperture array substrate according to a comparative example, and is a graph showing an example of temperature change in a shaping aperture array substrate according to this embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an arrangement of on-beam and off-beam. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a tracking cycle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment, a configuration using an electron beam as an example of a charged particle beam will be described. However, the charged particle beam is not limited to an electron beam, and an ion beam or the like may also be used.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a drawing apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the drawing apparatus 100 includes a drawing unit 150 and a control unit 160. The drawing apparatus 100 is an example of a multi-charged particle beam drawing apparatus. The drawing unit 150 includes an electron optical column 102 and a drawing chamber 103. Inside the electron optical column 102, an electron gun 201, an illumination lens 202, a shaping aperture array substrate 203, a blanking aperture array substrate 204, a reduction lens 205, a limiting aperture member 206, an objective lens 207, a deflector 208, and a collective deflector 209 are arranged.

[0014] An XY stage 105 is disposed within the writing chamber 103. A substrate 101 to be written is disposed on the XY stage 105. A resist to be exposed by an electron beam is applied to the upper surface of the substrate 101. The substrate 101 is, for example, a substrate (mask blank) to be processed into a mask, or a semiconductor substrate (silicon wafer) to be processed into a semiconductor device. The substrate 101 may also be a mask blank coated with resist and on which nothing has yet been written. A mirror 210 for measuring the stage position is disposed on the XY stage 105.

[0015] A mark (not shown) for measuring drift is provided on the XY stage 105. A detector (not shown) for detecting electrons reflected from the mark is provided inside the writing chamber 103. When measuring drift, the mark is scanned with an electron beam, the reflected electrons are detected by the detector, and the beam position is calculated from the change in the amount of reflected electrons.

[0016] The control unit 160 has a control computer 110, a deflection control circuit 130, a stage position detector 139, and a memory unit 140. Drawing data is input from the outside and stored in the memory unit 140. The drawing data usually defines information on multiple graphic patterns to be drawn. Specifically, a graphic code, coordinates, size, etc. are defined for each graphic pattern.

[0017] The control computer 110 has a data processing unit 111, a drawing control unit 112, a data transfer unit 113, and a blanking control unit 114. Each unit of the control computer 110 may be configured with hardware such as an electric circuit, or may be configured with software such as a program that executes these functions on the control computer 110. Alternatively, each unit may be configured with a combination of hardware and software.

[0018] The stage position detector 139 emits a laser beam, receives the light reflected from the mirror 210, and detects the position of the XY stage 105 based on the principle of laser interference.

[0019] Fig. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of shaping aperture array substrate 203. As shown in Fig. 2, a plurality of openings 203a are formed at a predetermined arrangement pitch along the vertical direction (y direction) and horizontal direction (x direction) on shaping aperture array substrate 203. Each opening 203a is formed, for example, in the shape of a rectangle or a circle of the same (approximately the same) dimensions.

[0020] An electron beam 200 emitted from an electron gun 201 (electron source) is illuminated almost perpendicularly onto the entire shaping aperture array substrate 203 by an illumination lens 202. A portion of the electron beam 200 passes through a plurality of apertures 203a in the shaping aperture array substrate 203, thereby forming and emitting a multi-beam 20 consisting of a plurality of individual beams, each having a rectangular cross section, for example.

[0021] Beam passage holes are formed in the blanking aperture array substrate 204 in accordance with the positions of the openings 203a of the shaping aperture array substrate 203. A blanker 50 (see FIG. 5) consisting of a pair of electrodes 51, 52 is disposed in each passage hole. By grounding one electrode 52 and keeping it at ground potential, and switching the other electrode 51 to ground potential or a potential other than ground potential, the deflection of the individual beams passing through the passage holes is switched on and off, thereby controlling blanking.

[0022] When the beam is on, the opposing electrodes 51 and 52 of the blanker 50 are controlled to the same potential, and the blanker 50 does not deflect the beam. When the beam is off, the opposing electrodes 51 and 52 of the blanker 50 are controlled to different potentials, and the blanker 50 deflects the beam. The multiple blankers 50 perform blanking deflection of the corresponding beams among the multi-beams that have passed through the multiple apertures 203a of the shaping aperture array member 203, thereby controlling the beam to an off state.

[0023] The multi-beams 20 that have passed through the blanking aperture array substrate 204 are reduced in size by the reduction lens 205 and travel toward the central opening formed in the limiting aperture member 206 .

[0024] Here, an individual beam controlled to the beam-off state is deflected by the blanker 50 and passes through a trajectory that passes outside the opening of the limiting aperture member 206, and is therefore blocked by the limiting aperture member 206. On the other hand, an individual beam controlled to the beam-on state is not deflected by the blanker 50 and passes through the opening of the limiting aperture member 206. At this time, the beams ideally pass through the same point. The beam trajectory is adjusted by an alignment coil (not shown) so that this point is located within the central opening of the limiting aperture member 206. In this way, blanking control is performed by turning the deflection of the blanker 50 on and off, and the beam is controlled to be on and off.

[0025] The limiting aperture member 206 blocks each beam deflected to a beam-off state by the multiple blankers 50. Then, multiple beams for one shot are formed by the beams that pass through the limiting aperture member 206 and are formed from when the beam is turned on until when the beam is turned off.

[0026] The collective deflector 209 (common blanker) is disposed between the blanking aperture array substrate 204 and the limiting aperture member 206, and can perform blanking deflection of the entire multi-beam 20 collectively, regardless of whether the beam is on or off at the blanker 50.

[0027] The multi-beams that have passed through the limiting aperture member 206 are focused by the objective lens 207 to form a pattern image with the desired reduction ratio. The beams (the entire multi-beams) that have passed through the limiting aperture member 206 are deflected in the same direction by the deflector 208, and are irradiated onto the desired position on the substrate 101, thereby drawing the pattern.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a region to be written. As shown in FIG. 3, the writing region 10 on the substrate 101 is virtually divided into a plurality of stripe regions 12, each having a predetermined width in the y direction. When writing a pattern in the writing region 10 using the writing apparatus 100, for example, the XY stage 105 is first moved to adjust the irradiation region 14 that can be irradiated with a single shot of the multi-beam 20 to the left end of the first stripe region 12, or to a position further to the left, and then writing begins. When writing the first stripe region 12, the XY stage 105 is moved, for example, in the −x direction, thereby relatively progressing writing in the +x direction. The XY stage 105 is moved continuously, for example, at a constant speed. After writing the first stripe region 12, the stage position is moved in the −y direction, and then the XY stage 105 is moved, for example, in the +x direction, to similarly write in the −x direction. This operation is repeated to write each stripe region 12 in sequence. Writing while alternating directions can shorten the writing time. However, the invention is not limited to the case where the direction is alternately changed while writing, and writing may proceed in the same direction when writing each stripe region 12.

[0029] When the XY stage 105 is moving continuously, at least while the substrate 101 is being irradiated with the beam, the deflector 208 controls the beam irradiation position on the substrate 101 so that it follows the movement of the XY stage 105. The multiple beams irradiated at one time are ideally aligned on the substrate 101 at a pitch obtained by multiplying the arrangement pitch of the multiple openings 203a in the shaping aperture array substrate 203 by the desired reduction ratio described above.

[0030] 4, one beam sequentially writes (exposes) four pixels while the XY stage 105 moves a distance of four beam pitches. While the four pixels are being written, the entire multi-beam 20 is deflected by the deflector 208 so that the position of the irradiation area 14 relative to the substrate 101 does not shift due to the movement of the XY stage 105, thereby causing the irradiation area 14 to follow the movement of the XY stage 105. In other words, tracking control is performed.

[0031] In the example of Figure 4, the pixel to be drawn is shifted three times from the initial position, and after the beam is irradiated onto the fourth pixel, the beam deflection for tracking control is reset, thereby returning the tracking position to the tracking start position where tracking control was initiated.

[0032] The blanking aperture array substrate 204, which controls blanking of each beam of the multi-beams, includes an input / output circuit 31 (31a, 31b) and a cell array circuit 34 provided with a plurality of blankers, as shown in Fig. 5. The input / output circuit 31 receives a control signal from the deflection control circuit 130.

[0033] The cell array circuit 34 is provided in the center of the blanking aperture array substrate 204, and two input / output circuits 31a and 31b are provided on either side of the cell array circuit 34. A data path D for a control signal from the deflection control circuit 130 to the blanking aperture array substrate 204 L , D R is divided into two systems.

[0034] 6, the cell array circuit 34 is provided with a plurality of cells that constitute individual blanking mechanisms 40. One individual blanking mechanism 40 corresponds to one blanker 50. The input / output circuit 31 converts the control signal received from the deflection control circuit 130 into a beam on / off signal and outputs the signal to the cell array circuit 34. For example, the input / output circuit 31a outputs the beam on / off signal to the individual blanking mechanism 40 arranged on one half of the cell array circuit 34, and the input / output circuit 31b outputs the beam on / off signal to the individual blanking mechanism 40 arranged on the other half.

[0035] The input / output circuit 31 is provided with a plurality of selectors 320 (demultiplexers). The selectors 320 receive irradiation time control data that defines the irradiation time for each beam shot via the amplifier 310, and output beam on / off signals from corresponding output lines. A plurality of individual blanking mechanisms 40 are connected in series to each output line.

[0036] For example, the selector 320 has eight output lines row1 to row8, and each output line is connected to 256 individual blanking mechanisms 40. By arranging 64 selectors 320 in each of the input / output circuits 31a and 31b, it is possible to transfer beam on / off signals to 512 × 512 individual blanking mechanisms 40 in the cell array circuit 34.

[0037] The arrangement of the individual blanking mechanisms 40 to which the input / output circuit 31a outputs a beam on / off signal and the individual blanking mechanisms 40 to which the input / output circuit 31b outputs a beam on / off signal is not limited to that shown in Fig. 6. For example, the output lines from the input / output circuit 31a and the output lines from the input / output circuit 31b may be arranged alternately. Alternatively, the individual blanking mechanisms 40 to which the input / output circuit 31a outputs a beam on / off signal and the individual blanking mechanisms 40 to which the input / output circuit 31b outputs a beam on / off signal may be arranged alternately.

[0038] 7, the individual blanking mechanism 40 includes a shift register 41, a pre-buffer 42, a buffer 43, a data register 44, a NAND circuit 45, and an amplifier 46. The shift register 41 transfers data output from the shift register of the preceding cell to the shift register of the succeeding cell in accordance with a clock signal (SHIFT).

[0039] The pre-buffer 42 stores the beam on / off signal for the cell output from the shift register 41 in accordance with the clock signal (LOAD1).

[0040] The buffer 43 takes in and holds the output value of the pre-buffer 42 in accordance with the clock signal (LOAD2).

[0041] The data register 44 receives and holds the output value of the buffer 43 in accordance with the clock signal (LOAD3).

[0042] The output signal of the data register 44 and a blanking control signal (SHOT_ENABLE) are input to the NAND circuit 45. The output signal of the NAND circuit 45 is applied to an electrode 51 of a blanker 50 via an amplifier 46 (driver amplifier).

[0043] When the output signal of the data register 44 and the blanking control signal are both high, the output of the NAND circuit 45 goes low, electrodes 51 and 52 have the same potential, the blanker 50 does not deflect the beam, and the beam is turned on. When at least one of the output signal of the data register 44 and the blanking control signal is low, the output of the NAND circuit 45 goes high, electrodes 51 and 52 have different potentials, the blanker 50 deflects the beam, and the beam is turned off.

[0044] The blanking control signal is input to the NAND circuits 45 of all the individual blanking mechanisms 40. When the blanking control signal is maintained at high, the beam is switched on / off by the output of the data register 44. That is, when the irradiation time control data is 1 (high), the beam is on, and when the irradiation time control data is 0 (low), the beam is off.

[0045] On the other hand, when the blanking control signal is set to Low, all blankers 50 deflect the beams, regardless of whether the value of the irradiation time control data is High or Low, and all beams can be turned off simultaneously.

[0046] A data processing unit 111 of the control computer 110 virtually divides the drawing region 10 of the substrate 101 into a plurality of mesh regions. The size of the mesh region is, for example, approximately the same as the size of one individual beam, and each mesh region becomes a pixel (unit irradiation region). The data processing unit 111 reads drawing data from the storage unit 140 and calculates the pattern area density ρ of each pixel using a pattern defined in the drawing data.

[0047] The data processing unit 111 multiplies the pattern area density ρ by a reference dose and a correction coefficient for correcting the proximity effect, etc., to calculate the dose of the beam irradiated to each pixel. The data processing unit 111 divides the dose by the current density to calculate the irradiation time. The data processing unit 111 rearranges the irradiation time data in shot order according to the writing sequence, and generates irradiation time control data.

[0048] The data transfer unit 113 outputs the irradiation time control data to the deflection control circuit 130. The drawing control unit 112 controls each unit of the drawing unit 150, causing the drawing process on the substrate 101 to be executed.

[0049] In conventional writing devices, irradiation time control data is transferred only during beam irradiation, such as when writing a pattern on the substrate 101 or when scanning marks on the XY stage 105 to measure drift, during which the beam is irradiated onto components in the writing chamber 103. Data transfer is not performed during other times, such as the time between writing one stripe region 12 and moving to the next stripe region 12, or when the substrate 101 is being transported (into or out of the writing chamber 103). As shown in FIG. 8A , circuit current (power supply current, operating current based on a beam on / off signal, etc.) flows through the input / output circuits 31a, 31b and the cell array circuit 34 of the blanking aperture array substrate 204 only during beam irradiation when data transfer is occurring, resulting in increased heat generation and an increase in the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate 203. On the other hand, during non-beam irradiation when data transfer is not occurring, no circuit current flows (the amount of current is small), resulting in reduced heat generation from the blanking aperture array substrate 204 and a decrease in the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate 203. As described above, conventionally, the amount of heat generated by the blanking aperture array substrate 204 is not constant, and the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate 203 is not stable.

[0050] Therefore, in this embodiment, irradiation time control data is transferred even when beams are not being irradiated, so that circuit current flows through the input / output circuits 31a and 31b and the cell array circuit 34 of the blanking aperture array substrate 204. At this time, the blanking control unit 114 controls the collective deflector 209 to turn off all beams at once so that the beams do not reach the substrate 101. Alternatively, the blanking control unit 114 may set the blanking control signal to Low to turn off all beams at once.

[0051] The irradiation time control data transferred by the data transfer unit 113 during non-irradiation of beams is not particularly limited, but for example, data in which on-beams and off-beams are alternately arranged up, down, left, and right in a plan view, as shown in Fig. 9, can be used. Data for turning all beams off or data for turning all beams on can also be transferred. The irradiation time control data transferred during non-irradiation of beams can be one type, or multiple types of data can be switched.

[0052] In this way, by continuously transferring data to the blanking aperture array substrate 204, the operating current of the blanking aperture array substrate 204 becomes constant, and the radiated heat to the shaping aperture array substrate 203 also becomes constant. Note that, hereinafter, "constant" does not necessarily mean the same value, and fluctuations are allowed within a range that does not affect the drawing accuracy. By keeping the operating current constant in this way, the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate 203 can be stabilized, as shown in FIG. 8B. Deformation of the shaping aperture array substrate 203 is suppressed, and beam position fluctuations can be reduced. In addition, the interval between beam drift measurements can be lengthened, improving the throughput of the drawing process.

[0053] In the drawing apparatus 100, when the pattern density of the pattern to be drawn is high, the blanker 50 blanks more frequently (the number of times the beam is switched on and off) compared to when a sparse pattern is drawn, which increases the power consumption of the blanking aperture array substrate 204 and increases the heat radiated to the shaping aperture array substrate 203. If the difference in the number of blanking times between the stripe regions 12 increases, the difference in the heat radiated to the shaping aperture array substrate 203 also increases, resulting in greater fluctuations in the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate 203. After extensive research, the inventors have found that by blanking the blanker 50 when no beam is irradiated so as to reduce the difference in the number of blanking times between the stripe regions 12, the heat radiated to the shaping aperture array substrate 203 becomes constant and the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate 203 can be stabilized.

[0054] As described above, in the drawing method in which drawing is performed while the XY stage 105 is moved, tracking continues while n shots are irradiated (n pixels are exposed), and a tracking reset is performed when n shots are irradiated. In the example of FIG. 4, n=4. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, one tracking cycle consists of four shots of irradiation that draws four pixels while continuing tracking, and the subsequent tracking reset.

[0055] Blanking for adjusting the blanking count is performed during tracking reset. Since tracking reset is a timing when no beam is irradiated onto the substrate 101, the blanking control unit 114 controls the collective deflector 209 to turn off all beams at once so that the beams do not reach the substrate 101.

[0056] During tracking reset, data to turn all beams off and data to turn all beams on are transferred alternately, and the blanker 50 turns the beams on and off to adjust the number of blanking periods. Alternatively, data to turn all beams on may be transferred to set the output of the data register 44 to High, and then the blanker 50 may turn the beams on and off to adjust the number of blanking periods by switching the value of the blanking control signal between High and Low.

[0057] A drawing operation of the drawing layout to be evaluated is performed in advance, and while the drawing process is being performed, the operating current per tracking cycle of the input / output circuits 31a and 31b of the blanking aperture array substrate 204 is recorded in a memory (not shown). The data processing unit 111 then calculates the maximum value I of the operating current per tracking cycle. MAX The operating current can be detected by an ammeter provided in the input / output circuits 31a and 31b. During the writing process, the data processing unit 111 measures the number of blanking cycles Ns and the number of tracking cycles Nt for each stripe region 12 and records them in memory.

[0058] A table is prepared that associates the number of blanking operations in the blanking aperture array substrate 204 per tracking cycle (total number of blanking operations in all blankers) with the operating currents of the input / output circuits 31a and 31b, and is stored in memory.

[0059] The data processing unit 111 refers to the table and calculates the operating current I MAX The number of blanking cycles Nb per tracking cycle corresponding to the number of blanking cycles Nb is obtained. This number of blanking cycles Nb is the target number of blanking cycles per tracking cycle.

[0060] The data processing unit 111 divides the number of blanking cycles Ns by the number of tracking cycles Nt to obtain the average number of blanking cycles Ns / Nt per tracking cycle. Then, the data processing unit 111 calculates the difference (Nb-Ns / Nt) between the target number of blanking cycles Nb per tracking cycle and the average number of blanking cycles Ns / Nt.

[0061] By performing blanking (Nb-Ns / Nt) times between tracking resets, the number of blankings becomes approximately equal to the target number Nb in all tracking cycles of all stripe regions 12, and the radiated heat to the shaping aperture array substrate 203 becomes constant, thereby stabilizing the temperature of the shaping aperture array substrate 203.

[0062] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which two input / output circuits are provided on the blanking aperture array substrate and the data path from the deflection control circuit 130 is divided into two systems, but the number of input / output circuits and the data path from the deflection control circuit 130 may be three or more systems. Also, two or more systems of data paths may be input from the deflection control circuit 130 to one input / output circuit.

[0063] Furthermore, temperature stabilization is not limited to the shaping aperture array substrate 203, but can also stabilize the temperature of the multi-beam emission section provided above the blanking aperture array substrate, regardless of the method of forming multi-charged particle beams.

[0064] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the components can be modified and embodied in practice without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be created by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined. [Explanation of symbols]

[0065] 40 Individual blanking mechanism 50 Blanca 100 Drawing device 110 Control computer 111 Data Processing Unit 112 Drawing control unit 113 Data Transfer Unit 114 Blanking control section 203 Shaped Aperture Array Substrate 204 Blanking aperture array substrate 209 Bulk deflector

Claims

1. emitting a multi-charged particle beam; a step of switching on / off a predetermined beam among the multiple charged particle beams using a plurality of blankers provided on a blanking aperture array substrate; transferring control data for controlling on / off of each beam of the multi-charged particle beam to a control circuit of the blanking aperture array substrate while moving a stage installed in a drawing chamber, and irradiating a drawing target substrate placed on the stage with the multi-charged particle beam based on the control data to draw a pattern; Equipped with a multi-charged particle beam writing method, wherein the control circuit is operated during beam non-irradiation, when the multi-charged particle beams are not irradiated onto the substrate to be written;

2. 2. The multi-charged particle beam writing method according to claim 1, wherein said control circuit is operated so that fluctuations in the amount of current flowing through said control circuit are within a predetermined range.

3. 3. The multi-charged particle beam writing method according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is operated by at least one of transferring the control data and turning on / off the predetermined beam when the beam is not being irradiated.

4. 4. The multi-charged particle beam writing method according to claim 3, wherein the control circuit is operated to at least one of transfer a predetermined amount of the control data and turn on / off the beam a predetermined number of times during the beam non-irradiation period and the beam non-irradiation period.

5. 2. The multi-charged particle beam writing method according to claim 1, wherein when said beam irradiation is not performed, all of said multi-beams are deflected collectively using a collective deflector to turn off all of said beams.

6. 2. The multi-charged particle beam writing method according to claim 1, wherein, when the beam is not irradiated, the blankers are set to a beam-off state regardless of the value of the control data.

7. 2. The multi-charged particle beam drawing method according to claim 1, wherein the non-irradiation time of the beam includes at least one of a timing for resetting tracking control that deflects the multi-charged particle beam so as to follow the movement of the stage, a time from the end of drawing processing of one stripe region to the start of drawing processing of the next stripe region, and a time during which the drawing target substrate is being transported.

8. an emission unit that emits a multi-charged particle beam; a blanking aperture array substrate having a plurality of blankers each corresponding to each of the multiple charged particle beams and turning on / off each of the beams; a movable stage that is installed in a drawing chamber and on which a substrate to be drawn and irradiated with the multi-beams is placed; a data transfer unit that transfers control data for controlling on / off of each beam of the multi-charged particle beam to a control circuit of the blanking aperture array substrate; a control unit that controls the blankers and the data transfer unit; Equipped with The control unit operates the control circuit during a beam non-irradiation period in which the multi-charged particle beams are not irradiated onto the substrate to be patterned.

Images