Lithographic apparatuses suitable for, and methodologies involving, complementary e-beam lithography (CEBL) are described. In an example, a column for an e-beam direct write lithography tool includes a first blanker aperture array (BAA) including a staggered array of openings having a pitch along an array direction. The array direction is orthogonal to a scan direction. Each opening has a first dimension in the array direction. The column also includes a second BAA including a staggered array of openings having the pitch along the array direction. Each opening has a second dimension in the array direction, the second dimension greater than the first dimension.

In one embodiment, a multi charged particle beam evaluation method includes writing a plurality of evaluation patterns on a substrate by using multi charged particle beams, with a design value of a line width changed by a predetermined change amount at a predetermined pitch, measuring the line widths of the plurality of evaluation patterns thus written, and extracting a variation in a specific period of a distribution of differences between results of a measurement value and the design value of each of the line widths of the plurality of evaluation patterns. The predetermined change amount is equal to or larger than data resolution and smaller than a size of each of pixels, each of which is a unit region to be irradiated with one of the multi charged particle beams.

A multi-electron beam writing apparatus includes a light source array to include plural light sources and generate plural first lights, a multi-lens array to include plural first lenses, and to divide the plural first lights into plural second lights by that each of the plural first lights illuminates a corresponding lens set of plural lens sets each composed of plural second lenses being a portion of the plural first lenses and by that each of lenses, being at least a part of the plural second lenses, is irradiated with two or more first lights of the plural first lights, a photoemissive surface to receive the plural second lights through its upper surface, and emit multiple photoelectron beams from its back surface, and a blanking aperture array mechanism to perform an individual blanking control by individually switching between ON and OFF of each of the multiple photoelectron beams.

A method of creating electronic devices such as semiconductor chips using a maskless lithographic exposure system such as a charged particle multi-beamlet lithography system (301A-301D). The maskless lithographic exposure system comprises a lithography subsystem (316) including a maskless pattern writer such as a charged particle multi-beamlet lithography machine (1) or ebeam machine. The method comprises introducing unique chip design data (430) or information related thereto into pattern data comprising common chip design data before streaming the pattern data to the maskless pattern writer.

A pattern writing method for charged-particle lithography apparatuses using an improved correction for thermal distortion of the substrate includes determining an exposure position where the beam impinges on the substrate and the power of the beam at the exposure position; calculating heating of the substrate at the exposure position, and calculating, for a plurality of locations over the substrate, and the thermal diffusion and radiative cooling; calculating, for the same or a reduced plurality of locations on the substrate, the positional change of the substrate due to thermal expansion; determining a displacement distance which compensates the positional change at the exposure position, updating the structure to be written by shifting the exposure position of the beam by said displacement distance, and writing the updated structures on the substrate with the beam. These steps are repeated as a function of time and/or varying exposure position of the beam substrate position.

In one embodiment, a data generation method is for calculating a coverage of a polygon in each of a plurality of pixels obtained by dividing a target to be irradiated with a charged particle beam into predetermined sizes. The method includes dividing a parametric curve that defines a pattern shape into a plurality of parametric curves, calculating, for each of the plurality of parametric curves, an area of a region surrounded by a segment connecting end points among control points of the parametric curve and the parametric curve, calculating positions of vertexes of a figure having an area equivalent to the calculated area and having, as one side thereof, the segment connecting the end points, and generating the polygon by using the vertexes.

A multi-column metrology tool may include two or more measurement columns distributed along a column direction, where the two or more measurement columns simultaneously probe two or more measurement regions on a sample including metrology targets. A measurement column may include an illumination sub-system to direct illumination to the sample, a collection sub-system including a collection lens to collect measurement signals from the sample and direct it to one or more detectors, and a column-positioning sub-system to adjust a position of the collection lens. A measurement region of a measurement column may be defined by a field of view of the collection lens and a range of the positioning system in the lateral plane. The tool may further include a sample-positioning sub-system to scan the sample along a scan path different than the column direction to position metrology targets within the measurement regions of the measurement columns for measurements.

In one embodiment, a data generation method is for calculating a coverage of a polygon in each of a plurality of pixels obtained by dividing a target to be irradiated with a charged particle beam into predetermined sizes. The method includes dividing a parametric curve that defines a pattern shape into a plurality of parametric curves, calculating, for each of the plurality of parametric curves, an area of a region surrounded by a segment connecting end points among control points of the parametric curve and the parametric curve, calculating positions of vertexes of a figure having an area equivalent to the calculated area and having, as one side thereof, the segment connecting the end points, and generating the polygon by using the vertexes.

A multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus includes a movable stage to mount a substrate thereon, a shot data generation circuit to generate shot data of each shot of multiple charged particle beams, a shift amount calculation circuit to calculate a shift amount for collectively correcting positions of all of the multiple charged particle beams of the k-th shot, based on parameters related to at least the (k+1)th and subsequent shots (k being a natural number) of the multiple charged particle beams, and a writing mechanism including a deflector for deflecting the multiple charged particle beams, and to perform the k-th shot onto the substrate with the multiple charged particle beams while shifting the all of the multiple charged particle beams of the k-th shot by collective deflection according to the shift amount.

A method of creating electronic devices such as semiconductor chips using a maskless lithographic exposure system such as a charged particle multi-beamlet lithography system (301A-301D). The maskless lithographic exposure system comprises a lithography subsystem (316) including a maskless pattern writer such as a charged particle multi-beamlet lithography machine (1) or ebeam machine. The method comprises introducing unique chip design data (430) or information related thereto into pattern data comprising common chip design data before streaming the pattern data to the maskless pattern writer.