Methods for exposing a desired shape in an area on a surface using a charged particle beam system include determining a local pattern density for the area of the desired shape based on an original set of exposure information. A backscatter for a sub area is calculated, based on the original set of exposure information. Dosage for at least one pixel in a plurality of pixels in the sub area is increased, in a location where the backscatter of the sub area is below a pre-determined threshold, thereby increasing the backscatter of the sub area. A pre-PEC maximum dose is determined for the local pattern density, based on a pre-determined target post-PEC maximum dose. The original set of exposure information is modified with the pre-PEC maximum dose and the increased dosage of the at least one pixel in the sub area to create a modified set of exposure information.

An electron beam writing apparatus comprising, a cathode configured to emit an electron beam, a condition controller configured to change a condition under which the electron beam is emitted from the cathode in a plurality of ways, and a prediction unit configured to predict a life span of the cathode based on a temporal change in an amount of fluctuation of a beam characteristic of the electron beam to a change in the condition when the condition is changed.

Methods and systems for exposing a desired shape in an area on a surface using a charged particle beam system include determining a local pattern density for the area, based on an original set of exposure information. A pre-proximity effect correction (PEC) maximum dose for the local pattern density is determined, based on a pre-determined target post-PEC maximum dose. The pre-PEC maximum dose may be calculated near an edge of the desired shape. Methods also include modifying the original set of exposure information with the pre-PEC maximum dose to create a modified set of exposure information.

In one embodiment, a charged particle beam writing method includes virtually dividing a writing region of the substrate into a plurality of first mesh regions in a first mesh size, calculating an area density of the pattern for each of the plurality of first mesh regions to generate first mesh data, converting a mesh size of the first mesh data into a second mesh size greater than the first mesh size to generate second mesh data, performing a convolution operation between the second mesh data and a proximity effect correction kernel to generate third mesh data, converting a mesh size of the third mesh data into the first mesh size to generate fourth mesh data, performing a convolution operation between the first mesh data and a middle range effect correction kernel to generate fifth mesh data, and adding the fourth mesh data and the fifth mesh data together to calculate an irradiation amount of the charged particle beam for each of the plurality of first mesh regions.

A semiconductor device according to an embodiment includes: a substrate including a plurality of through holes provided at predetermined intervals along a first direction in a substrate surface and along a second direction intersecting the first direction in the substrate surface; an insulating layer provided on the substrate, the insulating layer being penetrated by the through holes; a plurality of first electrodes provided on the insulating layer, the first electrodes being adjacent to the respective through holes in the first direction; a plurality of second electrodes provided on the insulating layer, the second electrodes being adjacent to the respective through holes in the first direction, the second electrodes being provided to face the first electrodes, the second electrodes being held at a predetermined potential; and a wiring layer provided on the insulating layer, the wiring layer electrically connecting the adjacent second electrodes.

In one embodiment, a charged particle beam writing device writes sequentially patterns to a plurality of deflection positions on a target object by deflecting a charged particle beam by a deflector. The device includes a storage storing relation information indicating a relationship between a time elapsed since a start of deflection by the deflector and an amount of position shift in a shot position to which the charged particle beam is shot, a shot position corrector obtaining a first amount of position shift corresponding to an n-th (where n is an integer greater than or equal to 2) deflection position in sequential pattern writing and a second amount of position shift corresponding to an n−1-th deflection position by using by using a settling time and a shot time of the deflector and the relation information, obtaining an amount of position correction by adding up the first amount of position shift and the second amount of position shift, and correcting a shot position, and a writer emitting the charged particle beam to the n-th deflection position by using the shot data for which the shot position has been corrected, and writing a pattern.

In one embodiment, a charged particle beam writing method is for writing a pattern in a writing area on a substrate by irradiating a charged particle beam onto the substrate while moving the substrate to write stripes sequentially, each of the stripes having a width W and shapes obtained by dividing the writing area by the width W. The method includes performing S times (S is an integer greater than or equal to two) strokes, each of the strokes which is a process writing the stripes in a multiplicity of 2n (n is an integer greater than or equal to one) while shifting a reference point of each of the stripes in the width direction by a preset stripe shift amount and changing a moving direction of the substrate for each of the stripes, and writing while the reference point of the stripes in the each of the strokes in the width direction of the stripes is shifted by a preset stroke shift amount in each of the strokes.

A charged particle beam writing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes an emission unit to emit a charged particle beam, an electron lens to converge the charged particle beam, a blanking deflector, arranged backward of the electron lens with respect to a direction of an optical axis, to deflect the charged particle beam in the case of performing a blanking control of switching between beam-on and beam-off, a blanking aperture member, arranged backward of the blanking deflector with respect to the direction of the optical axis, to block the charged particle beam having been deflected to be in a beam-off state, and a magnet coil, arranged in a center height position of the blanking deflector, to deflect the charged particle beam.

Methods for exposing a desired shape in an area on a surface using a charged particle beam system include determining a local pattern density for the area of the desired shape based on an original set of exposure information. A backscatter for a sub area is calculated, based on the original set of exposure information. Dosage for at least one pixel in a plurality of pixels in the sub area is increased, in a location where the backscatter of the sub area is below a pre-determined threshold, thereby increasing the backscatter of the sub area. A pre-PEC maximum dose is determined for the local pattern density, based on a pre-determined target post-PEC maximum dose. The original set of exposure information is modified with the pre-PEC maximum dose and the increased dosage of the at least one pixel in the sub area to create a modified set of exposure information.

In a charged-particle lithography apparatus, during writing a desired pattern, the duration of exposure slots is adapted to compensate for fluctuations of the particle beam. In the writing process the aperture images are mutually overlapping on the target so each pixel is exposed through a number of aperture images overlapping at the respective pixel, which results in an exposure of the respective pixel through an effective pixel exposure time, i.e., the sum of durations of contributing exposure slots, and the exposure slot durations are adjusted by: (i) determining a desired duration of the effective pixel exposure time for the pixels, as a function of the time of exposure of the pixels, (ii) determining contributing exposure slots for the pixels, (iii) calculating durations for the contributing exposure slots thus determined such that the sum of the durations over said contributing exposure slots is an actual effective exposure time which approximates said desired duration of the effective pixel exposure time. The durations in step (iii) are calculated in accordance with a predetermined set of allowed durations, wherein at least one of the durations thus calculated is different from the other durations selected for said set of exposure slots.