Abstract: According to one aspect of the present invention, a mark position measurement apparatus includes a mark position calculation circuit configured to calculate, in a state where the height position of the target object has been controlled to be the predetermined height position, positions of marks by using change of a signal for a mark of the marks due to a state of a surface of the target object, obtained by the sensor by scanning the laser beam over the marks such that the laser beam intersects the marks, and a positional deviation amount calculation circuit configured to calculate a positional deviation amount deviated from a calculated position of a mark concerned of the marks, by using an incident angle of the laser beam, and surface height positions of the target object at the positions of the marks acquired from the height position distribution of the surface of the target object.

Abstract: A pattern inspection apparatus includes an illumination optical system to illuminate an inspection substrate on which a pattern is formed, an offset calculation circuit to calculate an offset amount which depends on an image accumulation time of each of a plurality of photo sensor elements arrayed two-dimensionally, a time delay integration (TDI) sensor to include the plurality of photo sensor elements, to acquire an image of the inspection substrate by receiving a transmitted light or a reflected light from the inspection substrate by the plurality of photo sensor elements, to correct, using the offset amount, a pixel value of optical image data of an acquired image, and to output the optical image data having been corrected, and a comparison circuit to compare an optical image formed by the optical image data output from the TDI sensor with a reference image.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a beam detector includes a first aperture plate including a first passage hole, a second aperture plate including a second passage hole that allows a single detection target beam passing through the first passage hole to pass therethrough, and a sensor detecting a beam current of the detection target beam passing through the second passage hole. The second aperture plate includes an electrically conductive material, a plurality of third passage holes are formed around the second passage hole, and the plurality of third passage holes allow light to pass therethrough.

Abstract: In one embodiment, an alignment method is for aligning a first aperture array substrate and a second aperture array substrate disposed sequentially. The first aperture array substrate has a plurality of first openings, and the second aperture array substrate has a plurality of second openings. The alignment method includes irradiating a plurality of first openings with a charged particle beam to form a first beam array, measuring, by the first beam array, at least one of an amount of charged particles irradiating the second aperture array substrate, an amount of charged particles irradiating and reflected from or generated at the second aperture array substrate, and an amount of charged particles irradiating the second aperture array substrate and passing through the plurality of second openings, and adjusting a relative position between the first beam array and the plurality of second openings based on a measured charged particle amount.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the present invention, a pattern inspection apparatus includes an angle calculation circuit configured to calculate an adjustment angle for a ½ wave plate based on which a ratio between a light intensity of a first incident light entering a first light intensity sensor and a light intensity of a second incident light entering a second light intensity sensor becomes a desired ratio; and a transmittance calculation circuit configured to calculate a transmittance of a neutral density filter based on which a light intensity of the first incident light entering the first light intensity sensor becomes a value within a desired range set for the first light intensity sensor and a light intensity of the second incident light entering the second light intensity sensor becomes a value within a desired range set for the second light intensity sensor.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a charged particle beam writing apparatus includes a charged particle beam source configured to emit a charged particle beam that is irradiated onto a substrate to be written, a deflector configured to deflect the charged particle beam to a desired irradiation position on the substrate, a detector configured to detect electrons reflected or emitted from the substrate toward the deflector, a correction amount generation unit configured to calculate a drift amount of the charged particle beam irradiated onto the substrate from a current amount obtained from the detected electrons and a time elapsed from detecting the current to performing correction, and to generate a correction amount for irradiation position misalignment based on the drift amount, and a control unit configured to correct the irradiation position based on shot data of the charged particle beam generated from writing data and the correction amount.

Abstract: A charged-particle beam irradiation apparatus includes a deflector, a shot data generator generating shot data including a shot number of a charged-particle beam, a deflection controller controlling deflection of the charged-particle beam, a stage controller, an irradiation controller controlling irradiation of the charged-particle beam based on the shot data, and a storage controller configured to, when the irradiation of the charged-particle beam is stopped due to an abnormality occurring in a constituent element other than the irradiation controller, which includes at least one of the shot data generator, the deflection controller, and the stage controller, cause a storage to store therein at least the shot number at the stop of the irradiation, wherein when a condition for resuming the irradiation is satisfied, the irradiation controller resumes the irradiation from a shot number next to the shot number stored in the storage at the stop of the irradiation.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus includes a writer configured to form a multi-beam composed of a plurality of charged particle beams, individually turn ON/OFF each beam in the multi-beam, and irradiate the charged particle beams onto a target object to write a pattern, and a controller configured to calculate complexity of a figure included in design data, when the complexity does not satisfy a threshold value condition, monotonically divide the figure in a predetermined direction until the complexity satisfies the threshold value condition, and when the complexity satisfies the threshold value condition, generate writing data using the figure satisfying the threshold value condition without dividing the figure, and control the writer based on the writing data.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the present invention, a charged particle beam writing method for writing a plurality of patterns to be written assigned to any one of a plurality of pattern groups, the charged particle beam writing method includes: writing a plurality of patterns on a target object in accordance with the multiplicity set for each pattern group by using a charged particle beam by performing processing of writing each pattern of two or more pattern groups among the plurality of pattern groups in one travel in a predetermined direction of a stage on which the target object is placed and processing of writing no pattern of at least one pattern group less than the two or more pattern groups and writing a pattern of the remaining pattern group of the two or more pattern groups in one travel in the predetermined direction of the stage.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the present invention, a multi-charged particle beam writing method includes generating bitmap data defining values each depending on a dose of each pixel of a plurality of pixels, for each of a plurality of writing regions, on a target object, each of which is composed of meshed-divided regions being the plurality of pixels and which are offset from each other by a size equal to or smaller than a size of the each pixel; and performing writing, based on two or more bitmap data in a plurality of bitmap data, to pixels each being in a different one of writing regions each corresponding to one of the two or more bitmap data with a plurality of shots of a same beam in multiple charged particle beams during one tracking control, while repeating a cycle of resetting a deflection amount after each tracking control.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the present invention, a pattern inspection apparatus, includes: an inspection autofocus signal calculation circuit configured to calculate an inspection autofocus signal for acquiring a focus evaluation value equal to or greater than a threshold value for an inspection target substrate formed with a figure pattern, using the autofocus signal and the focus evaluation value for each height position acquired while changing a height position of a pattern formation surface of the inspection target substrate with the inspection target substrate placed on the stage and a correlation data obtained from a evaluation substrate; and an autofocus mechanism configured to adjust the height position of the pattern formation surface of the inspection target substrate to a height position of the pattern formation surface corresponding to a value of the inspection autofocus signal.

Abstract: A method for estimating the cathode lifetime of an electron gun includes recording the change amount, per unit temperature increase of the cathode of an electron gun which emits an electron beam, with respect to a parameter value relating to the electron beam, to be recorded in relation to the usage time of the cathode, and estimating the lifetime of the cathode by one of estimating a time obtained by adding a predetermined time to a time at which the change amount recorded a plurality of times becomes lower than a prescribed value as the lifetime of the cathode, and estimating, using an approximate line obtained by approximating the change amount recorded a plurality of times, a time at which the change amount becomes zero as the lifetime of the cathode, and outputting the estimated lifetime.

Abstract: In one embodiment, an evaluation pattern formation method includes a step of irradiating a charged particle beam onto a sample to write a plurality of first patterns having different pattern densities, and a step of writing a plurality of second patterns having different pattern densities so that, when combined with at least some of the plurality of first patterns, each pattern achieves the same pattern density, thereby forming a plurality of evaluation patterns with the same pattern density.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a multi-charged particle beam irradiation apparatus includes a blanking aperture array substrate having a plurality of blankers that perform blanking deflection on each beam of the multi-beam, an illumination lens that forms a crossover by focusing the multi-beam which passes through the blanking aperture array substrate, a stopping aperture substrate disposed at a position of the crossover and configured to block a beam which is deflected to be in a beam-OFF state, a stage on which a substrate to be irradiated with a beam passing through the stopping aperture substrate is placed, an electrostatic deflector disposed in proximity to the stopping aperture substrate, between the blanking aperture array substrate and the stopping aperture substrate, and a voltage control circuit configured to form an electric field perpendicular to a trajectory central axis of the multi-beam by applying a predetermined voltage to the electrostatic deflector.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a multi-charged particle beam writing method includes a step of setting, in a writing region of a sample, a plurality of writing grids obtained by shifting a plurality of ideal grids by a shift amount with anisotropy, the plurality of ideal grids being arranged in a lattice pattern with an equal pitch, and a step of writing a pattern on the sample by irradiating the plurality of writing grids with a multi-beam.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a charged particle beam writing method calculates an irradiation amount of a charged particle beam for writing a pattern on a substrate with a target mesh size based on design data. The writing region is virtually divided into first mesh regions using a mesh size larger than the target size, and an area density of the pattern in each first mesh region is calculated. A first irradiation amount of individual beams, defined at grid intersections of a control grid in the writing region, is then calculated using the area density. A second irradiation amount for the individual beams, when the writing region is divided with the target mesh size, is obtained from the first irradiation amount using a conversion formula including a reduction ratio of the target mesh size with respect to the predetermined mesh size.

Abstract: The present invention efficiently and accurately diagnoses abnormalities of blankers. An abnormality diagnosis method for a blanking aperture array substrate according to the present embodiment includes grouping the plurality of individual blankers into a plurality of groups, measuring blanking performance of the individual blankers for each group, and iteratively subdividing any group exhibiting abnormal blanking performance into subgroups to identify an individual blanker having abnormal blanking performance.

Abstract: A multi-charged-particle-beam writing method includes calculating a magnification correction amount of an acquired beam array shape by using a first coefficient indicating a displacement component which deviates in a first direction in proportion to a design coordinate in the first direction of the acquired beam array shape, where the first direction is parallel to a direction of writing performed while continuously moving a stage with a target object thereon; calculating a rotation correction amount of the acquired beam array shape by using a second coefficient indicating a displacement component which deviates in a second direction, being orthogonal to the first direction, in proportion to a design coordinate in the first direction of the acquired beam array shape; and calculating a modulation dose amount for each unit region of a plurality of unit regions, based on at least one of a third coefficient, and a fourth coefficient.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a charged particle beam writing apparatus includes a charged particle source generating and emitting a beam, a blanker controlling ON/OFF of the beam, a stopping aperture substrate having a first opening through which the beam, when controlled to be ON by the blanker, passes toward a substrate, a scattering section through which the beam transmits while being scattered when deflected by the blanker to be OFF, and an absorbing member that absorbs the beam having transmitted through the scattering section.