Patent · US Expired

Illumination system for electron beam lithography tool

US6333508A · kind A · utility

52Cited by
2References
40Claims
0Family size

Assignees

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 30, 2000
Grant dateDec 25, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 30, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01J2237/31774
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling beam emittance by placing a quadrupole lens array in a drift space of an illumination system component. The illumination system component may be an electron gun or a liner tube or drift tube, attachable to an electron gun. The quadrupole lens array may be three or more mesh grids or a combination of grids and continuous foils. The quadrupole lens array forms a multitude of microlenses resembling an optical "fly's eye" lens. The quadrupole lens array splits an incoming solid electron beam into a multitude of subbeams, such that the outgoing beam emittance is different from the incoming beam emittance, while beam total current remains unchanged. The method and apparatus permit independent control of beam current and beam emittance, which is beneficial in a SCALPEL illumination system.

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