A drawing device according to an embodiment includes: a stage configured to be capable of having a processing target mounted thereon; an aperture member including a plurality of apertures corresponding to a plurality of beams irradiated to the processing target; a data generator configured to generate gradation data indicating irradiation time data with n bits (n is a positive integer) with respect to positions of respective coordinates of the beams; a calculator configured to perform a logical addition operation of the gradation data of the respective positions of the coordinates; and a controller configured to control the aperture member based on the gradation data and a result of the logical addition operation.

A charged particle beam apparatus includes: an irradiation unit that irradiates a sample with a charged particle beam; an image formation section that detects a charged particle generated from the sample due to the irradiation with the charged particle beam and forms an image based on a signal obtained by detecting the charged particle; an input reception unit that receives an observation condition; a derivation section that derives second observation parameters proper for the observation condition based on the received observation condition and first observation parameters stored in a storage unit; and a control unit that controls the irradiation unit based on the second observation parameters.

A method for process analysis includes acquiring first inspection data, using a first inspection modality, with respect to a substrate having multiple instances of a predefined pattern of features formed thereon using different, respective sets of process parameters. Characteristics of defects identified in the first inspection data are processed so as to select a first set of defect locations in which the first inspection data are indicative of an influence of the process parameters on the defects. Second inspection data are acquired, using a second inspection modality having a finer resolution than the first inspection modality, of the substrate at the locations in the first set. The defects appearing in the second inspection data are analyzed so as to select, from within the first set of the locations, a second set of the locations in which the second inspection data are indicative of an optimal range of the process parameters.

A drawing device according to an embodiment includes: a stage configured to be capable of having a processing target mounted thereon; an aperture member including a plurality of apertures corresponding to a plurality of beams irradiated to the processing target; a data generator configured to generate gradation data indicating irradiation time data with n bits (n is a positive integer) with respect to positions of respective coordinates of the beams; a calculator configured to perform a logical addition operation of the gradation data of the respective positions of the coordinates; and a controller configured to control the aperture member based on the gradation data and a result of the logical addition operation.

Disclosed is a method of diagnosing a conversion process for converting a format of image data including unit data corresponding to charged particle beams into a format suitable for an aperture array, the aperture array having a plurality of controllers provided to match a plurality of the charged particle beams to control the charged particle beams, and a driver configured to drive the controllers. The method includes: extracting the unit data having an identical first rank based on an arrangement of the unit data in the image data from the unit data of each block including a predetermined number of the unit data and calculating a first checksum of each of the first rank; extracting the unit data having an identical second rank after the conversion process from the unit data of each block and calculating a second checksum of each of the second rank; and comparing the first and second checksums.

A three-dimensional calibration structure for measuring buried defects on a semiconductor device is disclosed. The three-dimensional calibration structure includes a defect standard wafer (DSW) including one or more programmed surface defects. The three-dimensional calibration structure includes a planarized layer deposited on the DSW. The three-dimensional calibration structure includes a layer stack deposited on the planarized layer. The layer stack includes two or more alternating layers. The three-dimensional calibration structure includes a cap layer deposited on the layer stack. One or more air gaps are formed in the layer stack following deposition of the cap layer. The three-dimensional calibration structure includes one or more holes formed into at least one of the cap layer, the layer stack, or the planarized layer.

A charged particle beam apparatus includes: an irradiation unit that irradiates a sample with a charged particle beam; an image formation section that detects a charged particle generated from the sample due to the irradiation with the charged particle beam and forms an image based on a signal obtained by detecting the charged particle; an input reception unit that receives an observation condition; a derivation section that derives second observation parameters proper for the observation condition based on the received observation condition and first observation parameters stored in a storage unit; and a control unit that controls the irradiation unit based on the second observation parameters.

By switching between a plurality of image transfer units based on a state of a stage and using the switched image transfer unit, traceability of stage movement and tolerance to communication failure can be improved. A first image transfer protocol is a protocol of which reliability is higher than reliability of a second image transfer protocol, and a switch unit may select a first image transfer unit in a case where it is determined that a state of a stage is a state in which the stage is stopping. A second image transfer unit is a protocol of which a transfer speed is higher than a transfer speed of the first image transfer protocol, and the switch unit may select the second image transfer unit in a case where it is determined that the state of the stage is a state in which the stage is moving.

A charged particle beam writing apparatus according to an embodiment starts a wiring operation when the sum of the amount of shot data stored in a buffer memory of a transfer control calculator, the amount of shot data being transferred by a transfer unit, and the amount of shot data stored in a buffer memory of a deflection control circuit reaches the amount of data for one stripe region.

In one embodiment, a writing data generating method is for generating writing data used in a charged-particle beam writing apparatus. The method includes generating, with respect to a graphical pattern included in design data, a plurality of divided curves by dividing a curve surrounding the graphical pattern such that the divided curves are smaller than or equal to a predetermined size, and calculating a plurality of control points for representation of each of the divided curves as a parametric curve, calculating a feature amount of a curved portion surrounded by the parametric curve and a line segment connecting a start point and an end point of the parametric curve out of the plurality of control points, and generating the writing data including positional information of the plurality of control points and the feature amount of the curved portion.