Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for an electron beam exposure system

US4586141A · kind A · utility

23Cited by
11References
3Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 27, 1983
Grant dateApr 29, 1986
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 27, 2003

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01J2237/31776
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An electron beam exposure system and method which varies beam size from pattern to pattern corresponding to the accuracy required for each pattern. In order to improve the throughput of the exposer, the beam size is adjusted to the maximum size useable for each pattern. The pattern is divided into rectangles equal to the maximum beam size determined by the pattern size or the accuracy required for the pattern. If a residual part of the pattern smaller than a rectangle remains, the rectangles are adjusted to be smaller than the maximum beam size, so the entire area of the pattern can be divided into equal size rectangles. The pitch and size of the beam are adjusted to this new beam size and exposure is repeated according to the new size rectangles. To increase the processing speed, all the patterns to be exposed in one process are checked as to their size and required accuracy, and the data necessary for the pattern generation such as beam size, pitch and number of exposures are calculated in advance and stored in a memory of a beam controller.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.