Methods of dicing semiconductor wafers, each wafer having a plurality of integrated circuits, are described. A method includes forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer, the mask including a layer covering and protecting the integrated circuits. The mask and a portion of the semiconductor wafer are patterned with a laser scribing process to provide a patterned mask and to form trenches partially into but not through the semiconductor wafer between the integrated circuits. Each of the trenches has a width. The semiconductor wafer is plasma etched through the trenches to form corresponding trench extensions and to singulate the integrated circuits. Each of the corresponding trench extensions has the width.

The invention relates to a method for determining a beamlet position in a charged particle multi-beamlet exposure apparatus. The apparatus is provided with a sensor comprising a conversion clement for converting charged particle energy into light and a light sensitive detector. The conversion element is provided with a sensor surface area provided with a 2D-pattern of beamlet blocking and non-blocking regions. The method comprises taking a plurality of measurements and determining the position of the beamlet with respect to the 2D-pattern on the basis of a 2D-image created by means of the measurements. Each measurement comprises exposing a feature onto a portion of the 2D-pattern with a beamlet, wherein the feature position differs for each measurement, receiving light transmitted through the non-blocking regions, converting the received light into a light intensity value, and assigning the light intensity value to the position at which the measurement was taken.

In the system and method disclosed, an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip is used to selectively desorb hydrogen atoms from the Si(100)-2X1:H surface by injecting electrons at a negative sample bias voltage. A new lithography method is disclosed that allows the STM to operate under imaging conditions and simultaneously desorb H atoms as required. A high frequency signal is added to the negative sample bias voltage to deliver the required energy for hydrogen removal. The resulted current at this frequency and its harmonics are filtered to minimize their effect on the operation of the STM's feedback loop. This approach offers a significant potential for controlled and precise removal of hydrogen atoms from a hydrogen-terminated silicon surface and thus may be used for the fabrication of practical silicon-based atomic-scale devices.

A method for detector equalization during the imaging of objects with a multi-beam particle microscope includes performing an equalization on the basis of individual images in or on the basis of overlap regions. For detector equalization, contrast values and/or brightness values are used and iterative methods can be employed.

In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, an underlying structure is formed over a substrate. A film is formed over the underlying structure. Surface topography of the film is measured and the surface topography is stored as topography data. A local etching is performed by using directional etching and scanning the substrate so that an entire surface of the film is subjected to the directional etching. A plasma beam intensity of the directional etching is adjusted according to the topography data.

The disclosure relates to a photolithography method based on electronic beam. The method includes: providing an electronic beam; making the electron beam transmit a two dimensional nanomaterial to form a transmission electron beam and a number of diffraction electron beams; shielding the transmission electron beam; and radiating a surface of an object by the plurality of diffraction electron beams. The photolithography method is high efficiency and has low cost.

Ion implantation compositions, systems and methods are described, for implantation of dopant species. Specific selenium dopant source compositions are described, as well as the use of co-flow gases to achieve advantages in implant system characteristics such as recipe transition, beam stability, source life, beam uniformity, beam current, and cost of ownership.

A method, including using an implant recipe to perform an implant by scanning an ion beam along a first axis over a substrate, coated with a photoresist layer, while the substrate is scanned along a perpendicular axis; measuring an implant current (I) during the implant, using a first detector, positioned to a side of a substrate position; determining a value of a difference ratio (I−B)/(B), based upon the implant current, where B is current measured by the first detector, during a calibration at base pressure; determining a plurality of values of a current ratio (CR) for the plurality of instances, based upon the difference ratio, the current ratio being a ratio of the implant current to a current measured by a second detector, positioned over the substrate position, during the calibration; and adjusting scanning the ion beam, scanning of the substrate, or a combination thereof, based upon the current ratio.

In one embodiment, a charged particle beam drawing apparatus performs drawing by deflecting a charged particle beam with a deflector. A method for evaluating the apparatus includes making a shot of a first pattern, controlling a deflection amount by the deflector to move an applied position of the beam from the first pattern along a first direction to make a shot of a second pattern, controlling the deflection amount to move the applied position from the second pattern along the first direction to make a shot of a third pattern, controlling the deflection amount to move the applied position from the third pattern along a second direction opposite to the first direction to make a shot of a fourth pattern between the second pattern and the third pattern, calculating an interval between the second pattern and the fourth pattern, and comparing the calculated interval to a reference interval.

A system includes a digital pattern generator (DPG) having a plurality of pixels that are dynamically and individually controllable; a switching device that is coupled to the DPG, the switching device configured to route a packet to the DPG so as to control at least one of the pixels, the switching device further comprising: a plurality of input buffers configured to receive and store the packet through a transmission line; a plurality of output buffers; a plurality of memory devices, wherein each of the plurality of memory devices is associated with one of the plurality of output buffers; and a scheduling engine that is coupled to the plurality of input buffers, the plurality of output buffers, and the plurality of memory devices and is configured to determine a routing path for the packet stored in one of the input buffers based on an availability of the output buffers and a vacancy level the memory devices.