Contour Point Correction for Electron Beam Writer Precision
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods are unable to precisely acquire information indicating three or more points on a contour of a figure drawn by an electron beam writer, which is crucial for contour-based calibration in processes like photomask production.
Innovation Solution
An information processing apparatus that includes an accepting unit, transforming information acquiring unit, corrected contour point acquiring unit, ideal contour acquiring unit, and output unit, which processes pattern and observed contour information to calculate and output corrected and ideal contour points, enhancing precision by applying transforming information and outlier removal techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional methods are used to acquire contour information, then the process is simple, but the measurement precision is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The contour acquisition process is divided into multiple stages: initial contour extraction, outlier detection, iterative refinement cycles, and final validation. Each stage processes specific aspects of the contour data independently, allowing complex precision improvement without overwhelming system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary outlier detection and removal before final contour calculation. Transforming information is acquired and applied in advance to correct systematic errors, so that subsequent processing works with already-refined data, improving final precision without adding complex real-time processing.
2Measurement precision
If more processing steps are added to improve precision, then measurement precision improves, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses iterative refinement cycles where contour points are calculated, validated, and refined in repeated passes. Each cycle improves precision incrementally, and the process automatically terminates when convergence criteria are met, balancing precision improvement with time efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the quality of acquired contour points and adjusts processing parameters accordingly. Outlier detection provides feedback to identify and correct erroneous measurements, while precision metrics feedback controls the termination of iterative refinement, preventing unnecessary processing time.
Data Source
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AI summary
In order to solve the problem that information indicating three or more points on a contour of a figure drawn by an electron beam writer cannot be more precisely acquired, an information processing apparatus includes: an accepting unit that accepts pattern information indicating a pattern figure, and actually observed contour information acquired using an image obtained by capturing an image of a figure drawn by an electron beam writer; a transforming information acquiring unit that acquires transforming information, which is information that minimizes the sum of squares of differences between convolution values corresponding to three or more corrected contour points of a given point spread function in a region indicated by the pattern figure indicated by the pattern information and a threshold regarding the convolution values; a corrected contour point acquiring unit that acquires corrected contour point information, which is information indicating three or more corrected contour points respectively corresponding to three or more actually observed contour points, using the transforming information; and an output unit that outputs the corrected contour point information. Accordingly, it is possible to more precisely acquire information indicating three or more points on a contour of a figure drawn by an electron beam writer.