This disclosure relates to a surface processing apparatus for use in the surface processing of a substrate. The surface processing apparatus comprises a plasma source including a wall defining a plasma chamber and an excitation source adjacent the wall and a processing chamber in which a substrate having a predetermined maximum lateral dimension is mounted in use, the processing chamber being operatively connected to the plasma source. A transmission plate for the transmission of plasma in use is arranged between the plasma source and processing chamber, the transmission plate comprising a plurality of apertures. The apertures follow a non-rectilinear path through the transmission plate such that there is no line of sight in use between a substrate with the predetermined maximum lateral dimension mounted in the processing chamber and the most intense region of the plasma in the plasma chamber.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a mounting substrate is installed on a multi charged particle beam irradiation apparatus, and a blanking aperture array chip provided with blanking electrodes to perform blanking deflection on beams in a multi charged particle beam is mounted on the mounting substrate. The mounting substrate includes an opening through which the multi charged particle beam passes, a plurality of control circuits that supply a control signal to the blanking electrodes for each of a plurality of areas into which the blanking aperture array chip is divided, and grounds, each of which is provided for a corresponding one of the plurality of control circuits and configured to supply a ground electrical potential to the corresponding control circuit. The grounds corresponding to the control circuits are electrically separated from each other.

A multi-beam apparatus for multi-beam inspection with an improved source conversion unit providing more beamlets with high electric safety, mechanical availability and mechanical stabilization has been disclosed. The source-conversion unit comprises an image-forming element array having a plurality of image-forming elements, an aberration compensator array having a plurality of micro-compensators, and a pre-bending element array with a plurality of pre-bending micro-deflectors. In each of the arrays, adjacent elements are placed in different layers, and one element may comprise two or more sub-elements placed in different layers. The sub-elements of a micro-compensator may have different functions such as micro-lens and micro-stigmators.

A beam splitter for generating a plurality of charged particle beamlets from a charged particle source is disclosed. The beam splitter includes a plurality of beamlet deflectors, which each pass a beamlet along an optical axis. Each beamlet deflector includes a low order element and a corresponding high order element. Each low order element has fewer electrodes than each corresponding high order element; and each low order element is one of a plurality of low order elements; and each corresponding high order element is one of a plurality of high order elements.

A blanking deflector includes a first electrode being plate-like, a second electrode electrically separated from the first electrode, and arranged such that a first space is formed between the first and second electrodes, and a third electrode electrically separated from the first electrode, and arranged such that a second space, sufficiently wider than the first space, is formed between the first and third electrodes, wherein a transmission line, in which the second and third electrodes are electrically connected at, at least, input and output sides, is formed by the first, second, and third electrodes, multi-beams of a charged particle beam are made to pass through the second space between the first and third electrodes, and the multi-beams are deflected for blanking control by a voltage signal applied from the input side to between the first electrode, and a connected group of the second and third electrodes electrically connected.

A charged particle beam lithography apparatus, includes a plurality of multiple-beam sets, each of which including a plurality of irradiation sources each generating an independent charged particle beam, a plurality of objective deflectors, each arranged for a corresponding charged particle beam, and configured to deflect the corresponding charged particle beam to a desired position on a substrate, and a plurality of electrostatic or electromagnetic lens fields each to focus the corresponding charged particle beam on the target object; a plurality of common deflection amplifiers, arranged for each multiple-beam set, and each of the plurality of common deflection amplifiers being configured to commonly control the plurality of objective deflectors arranged in a same multiple-beam set; a plurality of individual ON/OFF mechanisms configured to individually turn ON/OFF a beam irradiated from each irradiation source; and one or more multiple-beam clusters including the plurality of multiple-beam sets.

A set of aperture substrates for multiple beams includes a first shaping aperture array substrate including a plurality of first openings, the first shaping aperture array substrate being irradiated with a charged particle beam in a region in which the first openings are formed whereby first multiple beams are formed with a part of the charged particle beams having passed respectively through the first openings, and a second shaping aperture array substrate including a plurality of second openings through which corresponding first multiple beam passes respectively whereby second multiple beams are formed. Each of the second multiple beams is shaped by a pair of opposite sides of the first opening and a pair of opposite sides of the second opening.

A charged particle beam lithography apparatus, includes a plurality of multiple-beam sets, each of which including a plurality of irradiation sources each generating an independent charged particle beam, a plurality of objective deflectors, each arranged for a corresponding charged particle beam, and configured to deflect the corresponding charged particle beam to a desired position on a substrate, and a plurality of electrostatic or electromagnetic lens fields each to focus the corresponding charged particle beam on the target object; a plurality of common deflection amplifiers, arranged for each multiple-beam set, and each of the plurality of common deflection amplifiers being configured to commonly control the plurality of objective deflectors arranged in a same multiple-beam set; a plurality of individual ON/OFF mechanisms configured to individually turn ON/OFF a beam irradiated from each irradiation source; and one or more multiple-beam clusters including the plurality of multiple-beam sets.

Provided is a multi-charged-particle beam writing apparatus including: an emitter emitting a charged particle beam; a first shaping aperture array substrate having a plurality of first apertures and forming first multiple beams by passing a part of the charged particle beam through the first apertures, respectively; a second shaping aperture array substrate having second apertures formed at positions corresponding to the respective first apertures and forming second multiple beams by passing at least a part of each of the first multiple beams through corresponding the second apertures, respectively; a blanking aperture array having third apertures formed at positions corresponding to the respective second apertures and including blankers disposed in the respective third apertures to perform blanking deflection on the respective beams of the corresponding second multiple beams; a movable mechanism moving at least one of the first shaping aperture array substrate and the second shaping aperture array substrate; and a controller controlling the movable mechanism.

A multiple electron beam irradiation apparatus includes a shaping aperture array substrate to form multiple primary electron beams, a plurality of electrode array substrates stacked each to dispose thereon a plurality of electrodes each arranged at a passage position of each of the multiple primary electron beams, each of the multiple primary electron beams surrounded by an electrode of the plurality of electrodes when each of the multiple primary electron beams passes through the passage position, the first wiring and the second wiring applied with one of different electric potentials, and a stage to mount thereon a target object to be irradiated with the multiple primary electron beams having passed through the plurality of electrode array substrates, wherein, in each of the plurality of electrode array substrates, each of the plurality of electrodes is electrically connected to either one of the first wiring and the second wiring.