A method is disclosed of removing a first material disposed over a second material adjacent to a field effect transistor gate having a gate sidewall layer that comprises an etch-resistant material on a gate sidewall. The method includes subjecting the first material to a gas cluster ion beam etch process to remove first material adjacent to the gate, and detecting exposure of the second material during the gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) etch process.

A method is disclosed of removing a first material disposed over a second material adjacent to a field effect transistor gate having a gate sidewall layer that comprises an etch-resistant material on a gate sidewall. The method includes subjecting the first material to a gas cluster ion beam etch process to remove first material adjacent to the gate, and detecting exposure of the second material during the gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) etch process.

A method is disclosed of removing a first material disposed over a second material adjacent to a field effect transistor gate having a gate sidewall layer that comprises an etch-resistant material on a gate sidewall. The method includes subjecting the first material to a gas cluster ion beam etch process to remove first material adjacent to the gate, and detecting exposure of the second material during the gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) etch process.

An ion implantation tool includes a process chamber, a platen, an ion source, and a plurality of controlling units. The platen is present in the process chamber and configured to hold a wafer. The ion source is configured to provide an ion beam onto the wafer. The controlling units are present on the platen and configured to apply a plurality of physical fields that are able to affect motions of ions of the ion beam onto the wafer.

An evaluation method according to an embodiment is to evaluate a precision of an aperture formed with multiple openings, and includes steps of forming a first evaluation pattern based on evaluation data using multiple electron beams generated by electron beam that has passed through the aperture, dividing the aperture into multiple regions, each of the regions including the multiple openings and defining the multiple divided regions, forming a second evaluation pattern based on evaluation data using the electron beam that has passed through a first divided region among the multiple divided regions, comparing the first evaluation pattern with the second evaluation pattern, and evaluating the precision of the aperture based on the comparison result between the first evaluation pattern and the second evaluation pattern.

A parameter acquiring method for dose correction of a charged particle beam includes writing evaluation patterns on a substrate coated with resist; writing, while varying writing condition, a peripheral pattern on a periphery of any different one of the evaluation patterns, after an ignorable time as to influence of resist temperature increase due to writing of an evaluation pattern concerned has passed; and calculating a parameter for defining correlation among a width dimension change amount of the evaluation pattern concerned, a temperature increase amount of the evaluation pattern concerned, and a backscatter dose reaching the evaluation pattern concerned, by using, under each writing condition, a width dimension of the evaluation pattern concerned, the temperature increase amount of the evaluation pattern concerned at each shot time, and the backscatter dose reaching the evaluation pattern concerned from each shot.

Disclosed is an apparatus in a semiconductor lithography system. The apparatus comprises a multiplexer and a plurality of imaging elements. The plurality is configured into a shift chain and an output of the shift chain is coupled to a data input of the multiplexer.

An ion implantation tool includes a process chamber, a platen, an ion source, and a plurality of controlling units. The platen is present in the process chamber and configured to hold a wafer. The ion source is configured to provide an ion beam onto the wafer. The controlling units are present on the platen and configured to apply a plurality of physical fields that are able to affect motions of ions of the ion beam onto the wafer.

In a charged particle beam writing apparatus, a charged particle optical system includes a first, second, and third deflection control system configured to form a shot of a charged particle beam, control a shape and size of the shot, and control an irradiation position of the shot respectively. A shot data generation processing device generates shot data of writing a latent image on a resist layer in a sample, using (1) design data of a pattern to be formed in a member, wherein the member is formed in a sample, and the resist layer is formed on the member, and (2) correction information of a shot size and an irradiation shot position obtained from in-plane distribution data of an XY dimension variation amount of dimension measurement patterns. The dimension measurement patterns are formed by writing test patterns on a resist layer and transferring the test patterns onto a member.

An improved process control for a charged beam system is provided that allows the capability of accurately producing complex two and three dimensional structures from a computer generated model in a material deposition process. The process control actively monitors the material deposition process and makes corrective adjustments as necessary to produce a pattern or structure that is within an acceptable tolerance range with little or no user intervention. The process control includes a data base containing information directed to properties of a specific pattern or structure and uses an algorithm to instruct the beam system during the material deposition process. Feedback through various means such as image recognition, chamber pressure readings, and EDS signal can be used to instruct the system to make automatic system modifications, such as, beam and gas parameters, or other modifications to the pattern during a material deposition run.