Method and apparatus for depicting multiple charged particle beams

Abstract

A method and apparatus for stabilizing the temperature of a substrate with a formed aperture array are provided. The method according to this embodiment includes: a step of emitting multiple charged particle beams; a step of switching the on / off state of a predetermined beam among the multiple charged particle beams using a plurality of shielding devices disposed on a shielding aperture array substrate; a step of moving a platform disposed in a drawing chamber while transferring control data for controlling the on / off state of each beam of the multiple charged particle beams to a control circuit of the shielding aperture array substrate, and irradiating a drawing target substrate placed on the platform with the multiple charged particle beams based on the control data to draw a pattern. When the drawing target substrate is not irradiated by the beams of the multiple charged particle beams, the control circuit is activated.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a method and apparatus for depicting multiple charged particle beams. [Related Application]

[0002] This application enjoys priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-066242 (filed on April 16, 2024). This application incorporates the entire contents of the basic application by reference to it. [Previous Technology]

[0003] With the increasing integration of LSIs, the required linewidths for semiconductor devices are becoming smaller year by year. In order to form the desired circuit pattern on semiconductor devices, the following method is used: using a reduction projection type exposure device, a high-precision original pattern (photomask, or especially for stepper or scanner, also called a reduction photomask) formed on a glass substrate is reduced and transferred onto the wafer. In the creation of the high-precision original pattern, electron beam lithography, a technique that forms resist patterns by using an electron beam lithography device, is used.

[0004] A multi-beam drawing apparatus can irradiate more beams at once compared to drawing with a single electron beam, thus significantly increasing production capacity. One type of multi-beam drawing apparatus utilizes a masking aperture array substrate. For example, an electron beam emitted from an electron gun is passed through a shaped aperture array substrate with multiple openings to form multiple beams (multiple electron beams). The multiple beams pass through corresponding maskers on the masking aperture array substrate. The masking aperture array substrate has electrode pairs for individually deflecting the beams, and openings for beam passage are formed between the electrode pairs. By controlling the electrode pairs (masks) to be at the same or opposite potentials, the passing electron beams are masked and deflected. Electron beams deflected by the maskers are shielded, while undeflected electron beams irradiate the sample.

[0005] In the aperture array substrate, there is a control circuit for controlling the opening / closing of each beam. Due to the current flowing in the control circuit in response to data transmission, the temperature of the aperture array substrate will rise. If the temperature of the aperture array substrate rises, the formed aperture array substrate will deform due to radiative heat, resulting in a change in the position of the formed beam and a decrease in the drawing accuracy.

[0006] During the drawing process, the amount of data transferred to the masked aperture array substrate will vary, so the heat generated by the masked aperture array substrate will not be constant. Even if a cooling system is provided to cool the formed aperture array substrate, it is difficult to stabilize the temperature of the formed aperture array substrate. [Summary of the Invention]

[0007] The present invention provides a method and apparatus for stabilizing the temperature of a shaped aperture array substrate by depicting multiple charged particle beams.

[0008] A multi-charged particle beam drawing method according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a step of emitting a multi-charged particle beam; a step of switching the on / off state of a predetermined beam among the multi-charged particle beams using a plurality of shields disposed on a shielding aperture array substrate; a step of transferring control data for controlling the on / off state of each beam of the multi-charged particle beams to a control circuit of the shielding aperture array substrate while moving a platform disposed in a drawing chamber, and drawing a pattern by irradiating a drawing target substrate placed on the platform with the multi-charged particle beams based on the control data; and a step of activating the control circuit when the beams of the multi-charged particle beams do not irradiate the drawing target substrate.

Implementation Method

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

[0011] In this embodiment, an example of a configuration using an electron beam as a charged particle beam is described. However, the charged particle beam is not limited to an electron beam, and may also be an ion beam or the like.

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the depiction device according to the embodiment.

[0013] As shown in FIG1, 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 lens barrel 102 and a drawing chamber 103. Inside the electron optical lens barrel 102, an electron gun 201, an illumination lens 202, a forming aperture array substrate 203, a blocking aperture array substrate 204, a reducing lens 205, an aperture limiting member 206, an object lens 207, a deflector 208, and a collective deflector 209 are arranged.

[0014] An XY platform 105 is disposed within the drawing chamber 103. A substrate 101, the object to be drawn, is disposed on the XY platform 105. A resist, intended to be exposed by an electron beam, is coated on the surface of the substrate 101. The substrate 101 may be, for example, a substrate processed as a photomask (mask blank) or a semiconductor substrate (silicon wafer) processed as a semiconductor device. Furthermore, a platform position measuring mirror 210 is disposed on the XY platform 105.

[0015] A marker for drift measurement is provided on the XY platform 105 (illustration omitted). A detector for detecting reflected electrons from the marker is provided in the drawing chamber 103 (illustration omitted). During drift measurement, the marker is swept 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 includes a control computer 110, a bias control circuit 130, a platform position detector 139, and a memory unit 140. Drawing data is input from an external source and stored in the memory unit 140. The drawing data typically defines information about a plurality of graphic patterns used for drawing. Specifically, a graphic code, coordinates, and dimensions are defined for each graphic pattern.

[0017] The control computer 110 includes a data processing unit 111, a drawing control unit 112, a data transfer unit 113, and a masking control unit 114. Each part of the control computer 110 may be constructed by hardware such as electronic circuits, or by software such as programs that execute to control the computer 110 to perform these functions. Alternatively, it may be constructed by a combination of hardware and software.

[0018] The platform position detector 139 is a laser irradiation system that receives reflected light from mirror 210, thereby detecting the position of platform 105 using the principle of laser interferometry.

[0019] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the structure of the formed aperture array substrate 203. As shown in Figure 2, a plurality of openings 203a are formed in the formed aperture array substrate 203 along the longitudinal direction (y direction) and the transverse direction (x direction) at a predetermined spacing. Each opening is formed, for example, by a rectangle or circle of the same (or slightly the same) size and shape.

[0020] The electron beam 200 emitted from the electron gun 201 (electron source) illuminates the entire shaped aperture array 203 almost perpendicularly through the illumination lens 202. A portion of the electron beam 200 passes through a plurality of openings 203a in the shaped aperture array substrate 203, thereby forming a multi-beam 20 composed of a plurality of individual beams, for example, in cross-sectional rectangular shapes, and is emitted.

[0021] Through holes are formed on the aperture array substrate 204 to match the arrangement positions of each opening 203a of the formed aperture array substrate 203. In each through hole, a shield 50 composed of a pair of electrodes 51, 52 is disposed (see Figure 7). One electrode 52 is grounded and maintained at a ground potential, while the other electrode 51 is switched to a ground potential or a potential other than a ground potential, thereby switching the deflection of individual beams passing through the through hole to close / open, thus performing shielding control.

[0022] When the beam is on, the opposing electrodes 51 and 52 of the blocker 50 are controlled to be at the same potential, and the blocker 50 does not deflect the beam. When the beam is off, the opposing electrodes 51 and 52 of the blocker 50 are controlled to be at opposite potentials, and the blocker 50 deflects the beam. The plurality of blockers 50 block and deflect the beams corresponding to each of the multiple beams passing through the plurality of openings 203a of the shaped aperture array member 203, thereby controlling the beam to be in the off state.

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

[0024] Here, individual beams controlled to be in a beam-off state are deflected by the blocker 50 and pass through a track outside the opening of the aperture limiting member 206, thus being blocked by the aperture limiting member 206. On the other hand, individual beams controlled to be in a beam-on state are not deflected by the blocker 50 and thus pass through the opening of the aperture limiting member 206. In this case, the beams ideally pass through the same point. The beam track is pre-adjusted by a calibration coil (not shown) so that this point is located within the opening at the center of the aperture limiting member 206. In this way, the blocking is controlled by opening / closing the blocker 50, thus controlling the opening / closing of the beams.

[0025] The limiting aperture member 206 will shield each beam that is biased to the beam-off state by a plurality of shields 50. Then, the beams that have passed through the limiting aperture member 206 from the time the beams are turned on until the beams are turned off are formed into a single firing multiple beams.

[0026] The collective deflector 209 (common shield) is disposed between the shielding aperture array substrate 204 and the limiting aperture member 206, and can collectively shield and deflect all the multiple beams 20 regardless of whether the beam of the shield 50 is on or off.

[0027] The multiple beams passing through the aperture limiting member 206 are focused by the objective lens 207 to form a pattern image with the desired reduction ratio. Each beam (all of the multiple beams) passing through the aperture limiting member 206 is deflected in the same direction by the deflector 208 and irradiates the desired position on the substrate 101 to draw a pattern.

[0028] Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the area being depicted. As shown in Figure 3, the depiction area 10 of the substrate 101 is, for example, imaginarily divided into a plurality of striped regions 12 of a predetermined width in the y-direction. When a pattern is drawn on the depiction area 10 by the depiction apparatus 100, for example, the XY platform 105 is first moved and adjusted so that the irradiated area 14 that can be irradiated by a single multi-beam 20 is located at the left end or further to the left of the first striped region 12, and the drawing begins. When drawing the first striped region 12, the XY platform 105 is moved, for example, in the -x direction, thereby gradually drawing in the +x direction. The XY platform 105 is moved continuously, for example, at a constant speed. After the first striped region 12 is drawn, the platform position is moved in the -y direction, and this time the XY platform 105 is moved, for example, in the +x direction, thereby performing the same drawing in the -x direction. This operation is repeated to sequentially draw each striped region 12. By alternating the direction while drawing, the drawing time can be shortened. However, it is not limited to alternating the direction while drawing; when drawing each stripe area 12, it can also be designed to draw in the same direction.

[0029] When the XY platform 105 moves continuously, at least during the period when the beam is irradiated onto the substrate 101, the beam irradiation position on the substrate 101 is controlled by the deflector 208 so as to follow the movement of the XY platform 105. Ideally, the multiple beams irradiated at one time will be arranged side by side on the substrate 101 with a distance between them equal to the spacing between the plurality of openings 203a of the shaped aperture array substrate 203 multiplied by the aforementioned desired reduction rate.

[0030] For example, as shown in FIG4, during the period when the XY platform 105 moves a distance of 4 beam intervals, one beam sequentially depicts (exposes) 4 pixels. During the depiction of 4 pixels, the deflector 208 deflects the entire multi-beam 20, thereby causing the irradiated area 14 to follow the movement of the XY platform 105, so as to prevent the irradiated area 14 from deviating from the relative position of the substrate 101 due to the movement of the XY platform 105. In other words, tracking control is performed.

[0031] In the example of Figure 4, the pixel to be depicted is shifted 3 times from its initial position. After the beam is irradiated on the 4th pixel, the beam bias used for tracking control is reset, thereby returning the tracking position to the tracking start position where tracking control begins.

[0032] The shielding aperture array substrate 204, which performs shielding control of each beam of the multi-beam system, as shown in FIG5, includes input / output circuits 31 (31a, 31b) and a unit array circuit 34 with a plurality of shields. The input / output circuits 31 receive control signals from the bias control circuit 130.

[0033] A unit array circuit 34 is provided in the center of the obscured aperture array substrate 204, and two input / output circuits 31a and 31b are provided in between the unit array circuit 34. The data paths DL and DR of the control signal from the bias control circuit 130 to the obscured aperture array substrate 204 are divided into two systems.

[0034] As shown in Figure 6, the unit array circuit 34 is provided with a plurality of units constituting individual blocking mechanisms 40. One individual blocking mechanism 40 corresponds to one blocking device 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 it to the unit array circuit 34. For example, the input / output circuit 31a outputs the beam on / off signal to the individual blocking mechanism 40 disposed on one half of the unit array circuit 34, and the input / output circuit 31b outputs the beam on / off signal to the individual blocking mechanism 40 disposed on the other half.

[0035] A plurality of selectors 320 (demultiplexers) are provided in the input / output circuit 31. The selector 320 receives illumination time control data defining the illumination time of each firing of each beam through the amplifier 310, and outputs beam on / off signals from the corresponding output line. A plurality of individual blocking mechanisms 40 are connected in series in each output line.

[0036] For example, selector 320 has eight output lines row1 to row8, and 256 individual blocking mechanisms 40 are connected to each output line. By configuring 64 selectors 320 in each of the input and output circuits 31a and 31b, the beam on / off signal can be transferred to 512×512 individual blocking mechanisms 40 in the unit array circuit 34.

[0037] The configuration of the individual blocking mechanism 40 for the output beam on / off signal of input / output circuit 31a and the individual blocking mechanism 40 for the output beam on / off signal of input / output circuit 31b is not limited to that shown in FIG. 6. For example, the output lines from input / output circuit 31a and the output lines from input / output circuit 31b can also be configured interchangeably. Alternatively, the individual blocking mechanism 40 for the output beam on / off signal of input / output circuit 31a and the individual blocking mechanism 40 for the output beam on / off signal of input / output circuit 31b can also be configured interchangeably.

[0038] As shown in Figure 7, the individual blocking 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, in accordance with a clock signal (SHIFT), transfers the data output from the shift register of the front-end unit to the shift register of the back-end unit.

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

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

[0041] Data buffer 44 retrieves and holds the output value of buffer 43 in accordance with the clock signal (LOAD3).

[0042] For the NAND circuit 45, the output signal of the input data register 44 and the smudge control signal (SHOT_ENABLE) are input. The output signal of the NAND circuit 45 is given to the electrode 51 of the smudge device 50 through the amplifier 46 (driver amplifier).

[0043] When both the output signal of the data register 44 and the blocking control signal are High, the output of the NAND circuit 45 becomes Low, electrodes 51 and 52 are at the same potential, and the blocking device 50 does not deflect the beam, thus the beam is turned on. When at least one of the output signal of the data register 44 and the blocking control signal is Low, the output of the NAND circuit 45 becomes High, electrodes 51 and 52 are at different potentials, and the blocking device 50 deflects the beam, thus the beam is turned off.

[0044] The blocking control signal is input to the NAND circuit 45 of all individual blocking mechanisms 40. When the blocking control signal is maintained in the High state, the beam can be switched on / off via the output of the data register 44. That is, the beam is on when the irradiation time control data is 1 (High), and the beam is off when the irradiation time control data is 0 (Low).

[0045] On the other hand, if the blocking control signal is set to Low, then regardless of whether the value of the illumination time control data is High or Low, the entire blocking device 50 will deflect the beam and can shut down the entire beam collectively.

[0046] The data processing unit 111 of the control computer 110 imagines dividing the depiction area 10 of the substrate 101 into a plurality of mesh areas. The size of the mesh area is, for example, the same as the size of one individual beam, and each mesh area is called a pixel (unit illumination area). The data processing unit 111 reads the depiction data from the memory unit 140 and calculates the pattern area density ρ of each pixel using the pattern defined in the depiction data.

[0047] The data processing unit 111 calculates the irradiation amount of the beam irradiating each pixel by multiplying the pattern area density ρ by the reference irradiation amount and correction coefficients used to correct for proximity effects, etc. The data processing unit 111 divides the irradiation amount by the current density to obtain the irradiation time. The data processing unit 111 rearranges the irradiation time data into a firing order following the drawing sequence to generate irradiation time control data.

[0048] The data transfer unit 113 outputs irradiation time control data to the bias control circuit 130. The drawing control unit 112 controls each part of the drawing unit 150 to perform drawing processing on the substrate 101.

[0049] In conventional drawing apparatuses, irradiation time control data is only transferred when the component in the drawing chamber 103 is irradiated by a beam (such as when drawing a pattern on the substrate 101 or when measuring the drift of a mark on the XY platform 105). Data transfer is not performed during other time periods, such as the time before moving to the next stripe region 12 after drawing one stripe region 12, or when the substrate 101 is being transported (moved into or out of the drawing chamber 103). As shown in FIG8A, when the input / output circuits 31a, 31b or the unit array circuit 34 of the aperture array substrate 204 are covered, circuit current (power supply current or operating current based on beam on / off signals, etc.) flows only when the beam is irradiated and data transfer is performed, the heat generation increases, causing the temperature of the formed aperture array substrate 203 to rise. On the other hand, when the beam that is not transmitting data is not irradiating, the circuit current does not flow (the current is small), the heat generated by the aperture array substrate 204 is reduced, and the temperature of the formed aperture array substrate 203 decreases. In this way, the heat generated by the conventional aperture array substrate 204 is not constant, and the temperature of the formed aperture array substrate 203 is unstable.

[0050] Therefore, in this embodiment, the irradiation time control data is transmitted even when the beam is not irradiating, and the circuit current flows through the input / output circuits 31a, 31b or the unit array circuit 34 of the shielding aperture array substrate 204. At this time, in order to prevent the beam from reaching the substrate 101, the shielding control unit 114 controls the collective deflector 209 to collectively turn off all beams. Alternatively, the shielding control unit 114 may also set the shielding control signal to Low to collectively turn off all beams.

[0051] The irradiation time control data transferred by the data transfer unit 113 when the beam is not irradiating is not particularly limited. However, as shown in FIG9, for example, such data can be configured by alternating the up, down, left, and right positions of the beam being turned on and off when viewed from above. It can also transfer data with all beams set to off or data with all beams set to on. The irradiation time control data transferred when the beam is not irradiating can be of one type or multiple types of data can be switched.

[0052] In this way, by continuously transferring data to the masking aperture array substrate 204, the operating current of the masking aperture array substrate 204 becomes constant, and the radiant heat to the forming aperture array substrate 203 also becomes constant. Furthermore, the term "constant" below does not necessarily mean becoming the same value, but rather allows for variation within a range that does not affect the rendering accuracy. By setting the operating current to a constant value, as shown in FIG8B, the temperature of the forming aperture array substrate 203 can be stabilized. Deformation of the forming aperture array substrate 203 is suppressed, and beam position variation can be reduced. In addition, the interval for beam drift measurement can be lengthened, thereby improving the output of the rendering process.

[0053] In the drawing apparatus 100, when the pattern density of the pattern to be drawn is high, the number of times the masking device 50 is used (the number of times the beam is switched on and off) increases compared to the case of drawing a sparse pattern. This increases the power consumption of the masking aperture array substrate 204 and the radiant heat to the forming aperture array substrate 203. If the difference in the number of masking times becomes large between the stripe regions 12, the difference in radiant heat to the forming aperture array substrate 203 will also become large, and the temperature fluctuation of the forming aperture array substrate 203 will become larger. Through repeated and tireless investigation, the team of the present invention discovered that by masking the masking device 50 when the beam is not irradiated, the difference in the number of masking times between the stripe regions 12 is reduced, thereby making the radiant heat to the forming aperture array substrate 203 constant and stabilizing the temperature of the forming aperture array substrate 203.

[0054] As described above, in the drawing method where the XY platform 105 moves while drawing, tracking continues during n firings (exposing n pixels), and once the n firings are finished, tracking reset is entered. In the example of Figure 4, n=4. In this case, as shown in Figure 10, one tracking cycle is constituted by continuously tracking and drawing 4 pixels with 4 firings and then tracking reset.

[0055] The masking used for adjusting the number of masking times is performed during the tracking reset. The tracking reset is the time when the substrate 101 is not irradiated by the beam. Therefore, in order to prevent the beam from reaching the substrate 101, the masking control unit 114 controls the collective deflector 209 to collectively turn off all beams.

[0056] During the tracking reset, data with all beams set to off and data with all beams set to on are interactively forwarded, and the masking device 50 turns the beams on and off, adjusting the number of masking cycles. Alternatively, data with all beams set to on can be forwarded, and the output of the data register 44 can be set to High, then the value of the masking control signal can be switched between High and Low, thereby allowing the masking device 50 to turn the beams on and off, adjusting the number of masking cycles.

[0057] The drawing operation of the drawing layout to be evaluated is performed in advance. During the drawing process, the operating current of the input / output circuits 31a and 31b of the masking aperture array substrate 204 for each tracking cycle is recorded in memory (illustration omitted), and the data processing unit 111 calculates the maximum value IMAX of the operating current for each tracking cycle. The operating current can be detected by a current meter provided in the input / output circuits 31a and 31b. In addition, during the drawing process, the data processing unit 111 measures the number of masking times Ns and the number of tracking cycles Nt for each stripe region 12 and records them in memory.

[0058] A table is prepared to establish a correspondence between the number of times the aperture array substrate 204 is blocked (the total number of times all blockers are blocked) and the operating current of the input and output circuits 31a and 31b in each tracking cycle, and the table is stored in memory.

[0059] The data processing unit 111 refers to the table and obtains the number of times Nb is blocked per tracking cycle corresponding to the operating current IMAX. This number of times Nb is the target number of times to be blocked per tracking cycle.

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

[0061] During the tracking reset, (Nb-Ns / Nt) times of masking are performed, thereby making the number of masking times almost equal to the target number Nb throughout the entire tracking cycle of the entire stripe region 12, and the radiative heat to the formed aperture array substrate 203 becomes constant, thus stabilizing the temperature of the formed aperture array substrate 203.

[0062] In the above embodiment, an example was described in which two input / output circuits are provided on the obscured aperture array substrate, and the data path from the bias control circuit 130 is divided into two systems. However, the number of input / output circuits and the data path from the bias control circuit 130 can also be three or more systems. In addition, two or more data paths can be input from the bias control circuit 130 to one input / output circuit.

[0063] Furthermore, temperature stabilization is not limited to the formed aperture array substrate 203. Regardless of the method of forming the multi-charged particle beam, the temperature of the multi-beam emission portion disposed on the upper part of the shielded aperture array substrate can be stabilized.

[0064] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments themselves, and the constituent elements can be modified and embodied during the implementation phase without departing from its essence. In addition, various inventions can be formed by suitable combinations of the plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, several constituent elements may be deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, constituent elements across different embodiments may be appropriately combined. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0009] [Fig. 1] A schematic diagram of a multi-charged particle beam drawing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Fig. 2] A plan view of a shaped aperture array substrate. [Fig. 3] A diagram illustrating the drawing area of ​​the substrate. [Fig. 4] A diagram illustrating beam tracking control. [Fig. 5] A schematic diagram of the shielding aperture array substrate. [Fig. 6] A diagram illustrating the configuration of the input / output circuit and the unit array circuit. [Fig. 7] A schematic diagram of the configuration of individual shielding mechanisms. [Fig. 8] Fig. 8A shows a graph illustrating an example of temperature change of the shaped aperture array substrate according to a comparative example, and Fig. 8B shows a graph illustrating an example of temperature change of the shaped aperture array substrate according to this embodiment. [Fig. 9] A diagram illustrating an example of beam activation and beam deactivation. [Fig. 10] A diagram illustrating the tracking period.

Claims

1. A method for depicting multiple charged particle beams, comprising: a step of emitting multiple charged particle beams; a step of switching the on / off state of a predetermined beam among the multiple charged particle beams using a plurality of maskers disposed on a masking aperture array substrate; a step of irradiating a depicting target substrate placed on the platform with the multiple charged particle beams based on the control data while moving a platform disposed in a depicting chamber, and transferring control data for controlling the on / off state of each beam of the multiple charged particle beams to a control circuit of the masking aperture array substrate based on the control data; and a step of activating the control circuit when the beams of the multiple charged particle beams are not irradiating the depicting target substrate.

2. The method for depicting multiple charged particle beams as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned control circuit is activated by making the variation in the amount of current flowing through it fall within a specified range.

3. The method for depicting multiple charged particle beams as described in claim 1, wherein, When the aforementioned beam is not irradiated, at least one of the following is performed: a predetermined amount of the aforementioned control data is transferred and the aforementioned beam is turned on / off a predetermined number of times, thereby activating the aforementioned control circuit.

4. The method for depicting multiple charged particle beams as described in claim 3, wherein, The control circuit is activated by transmitting at least one of the following methods during the entire period of irradiating the substrate of the subject matter with the aforementioned beam of multiple charged particles and during the non-irradiation period of the aforementioned beam: transmitting a predetermined amount of the aforementioned control data and turning the aforementioned beam on / off a predetermined number of times.

5. The method for depicting multiple charged particle beams as described in claim 1, wherein, When the aforementioned beam is not irradiated, a collective deflector is used to collectively deflect the entire beam of charged particles, thus turning off all beams.

6. The method for depicting multiple charged particle beams as described in claim 1, wherein, When the aforementioned beam is not irradiating, regardless of the value of the aforementioned control data, the aforementioned plurality of shields are set to the beam-off state.

7. The method for depicting multiple charged particle beams as described in claim 1, wherein, When the aforementioned beam is not irradiated, it includes at least one of the following: the time point at which the tracking control is reset, that is, the time when the tracking control is deflected in a manner that follows the movement of the aforementioned platform; the time from the end of the depiction process of one stripe area to the start of the next depiction process; and the time during which the aforementioned depiction object substrate is being transported.

8. A multi-charged particle beam painting apparatus, comprising: an emission unit for emitting a multi-charged particle beam; a shielding aperture array substrate having a plurality of shields corresponding to each beam of the multi-charged particle beam to turn the beam on / off; a movable platform disposed in a painting chamber for placing a painting target substrate irradiated by the multi-charged particle beam; a data transfer unit for transferring control data for controlling the on / off of each beam of the multi-charged particle beam to a control circuit of the shielding aperture array substrate; a control unit for controlling the plurality of shields and the data transfer unit; and the control unit for activating the control circuit when the beams of the multi-charged particle beam are not irradiating the painting target substrate.

9. The multi-charged particle beam depiction apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein, The aforementioned control unit activates the aforementioned control circuit by ensuring that the variation in the amount of current flowing through the aforementioned control circuit falls within a predetermined range.

10. The multi-charged particle beam depiction apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein, The aforementioned control unit, when the aforementioned beam is not irradiating, performs at least one of the following: transferring a predetermined amount of the aforementioned control data and turning the aforementioned beam on / off a predetermined number of times, thereby activating the aforementioned control circuit.

11. The multi-charged particle beam depiction apparatus as described in claim 10, wherein, The aforementioned control unit activates the aforementioned control circuit by transmitting at least one of the following methods throughout the entire period when the aforementioned substrate is irradiated by the aforementioned beam of multiple charged particles and when the aforementioned beam is not irradiated: transmitting a predetermined amount of the aforementioned control data and turning the aforementioned beam on / off a predetermined number of times.

12. The multi-charged particle beam depiction apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein, It also features a collective deflector that, when the aforementioned beam is not irradiating, deflects all of the aforementioned multi-charged particle beams collectively, thus turning off all beams.

13. The multi-charged particle beam depiction apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein, When the aforementioned beam is not irradiating, the aforementioned control unit sets the aforementioned plurality of shields to a beam-off state regardless of the value of the aforementioned control data.

14. The multi-charged particle beam depiction apparatus as described in claim 8, wherein, When the aforementioned beam is not irradiated, it includes at least one of the following: the time point at which the tracking control is reset, that is, the time when the tracking control is deflected in a manner that follows the movement of the aforementioned platform; the time from the end of the depiction process of one stripe area to the start of the next depiction process; and the time during which the aforementioned depiction object substrate is being transported.

Images