Abstract: For compensation of a magnetic field in an operating region a number of magnetic field sensors (S1, S2) and an arrangement of compensation coils (Hh) surrounding said operating region is used. The magnetic field is measured by at least two sensors (S1, S2) located at different positions outside the operating region, preferably at opposing positions with respect to a symmetry axis of the operating region, generating respective sensor signals (s1, s2), the sensor signals of said sensors are superposed to a feedback signal (ms, fs), which is converted by a controlling means to a driving signal (d1), and the driving signal is used to steer at least one compensation coil (Hh). To further enhance the compensation, the driving signal is also used to derive an additional input signal (cs) for the superposing step to generate the feedback signal (fs).

Abstract: A particle-beam exposure apparatus (1) for irradiating a target (41) by means of a beam (2) of energetic electrically charged particles comprises: an illumination system (101) for generating and forming said particles into a directed beam (21); a pattern definition means (102) located after the illumination system for positioning a pattern of apertures transparent to the particles in the path of the directed beam, thus forming a patterned beam (22) emerging from the pattern definition means through the apertures; and a projection system (103) positioned after the pattern definition means (102) for projecting the patterned beam (22) onto a target (41) positioned after the projection system. The apparatus further comprises an acceleration/deceleration means (32) containing an electric potential gradient which is oriented substantially parallel to the path of the structured beam and constant over at least a cross-section of the beam.

Abstract: A charged-particle multi-beam exposure apparatus (1) for exposure of a target (41) uses a plurality of beams of electrically charged particles, which propagate along parallel beam paths towards the target (41). For each particle beam an illumination system (10), a pattern definition means (20) and a projection optics system (30) are provided. The illuminating system (10) and/or the projection optics system (30) comprise particle-optical lenses having lens elements (L1, L2, L3, L4, L5) common to more than one particle beam. The pattern definition means (20) defines a multitude of beamlets in the respective particle beam, forming its shape into a desired pattern which is projected onto the target (41), by allowing it to pass only through a plurality of apertures defining the shape of beamlets permeating said apertures, and further comprises a blanking means to switch off the passage of selected beamlets from the respective paths of the beamlets.

Abstract: In a charged-particle beam exposure device, an electrostatic lens (ML) comprises several (at least three) electrodes with rotational symmetry (EFR, EM, EFN) surrounding a particle beam path; the electrodes are arranged coaxially on a common optical axis representing the center of said particle beam path and are fed different electrostatic potentials through electric supplies. At least a subset of the electrodes (EM) form an electrode column realized as a series of electrodes of substantially equal shape arranged in consecutive order along the optical axis, wherein outer portions of said electrodes (EM) of the electrode column have outer portions (OR) of corresponding opposing surfaces (f1, f2) facing toward the next and previous electrodes, respectively. Preferably, the length of the electrode column is at least 4.1 times (3 times) the inner radius (ri1) of said surfaces (f1, f2).

Abstract: An apparatus for masked ion-beam lithography comprises a mask maintenance module for prolongation of the lifetime of the stencil mask. The module comprises a deposition means for depositing material to the side of the mask irradiated by the lithography beam, with at least one deposition source being positioned in front of the mask, and further comprises a sputter means in which at least one sputter source, positioned in front of the mask holder means and outside the path of the lithography beam, produces a sputter ion beam directed to the mask in order to sputter off material from said mask in a scanning procedure and compensate for inhomogeneity of deposition.

Abstract: A particle-beam exposure apparatus (1) for irradiating a target (41) by means of a beam (2) of energetic electrically charged particles comprises: an illumination system (101) for generating and forming said particles into a directed beam (21); a pattern definition means (102) located after the illumination system for positioning a pattern of apertures transparent to the particles in the path of the directed beam, thus forming a patterned beam (22) emerging from the pattern definition means through the apertures; and a projection system (103) positioned after the pattern definition means (102) for projecting the patterned beam (22) onto a target (41) positioned after the projection system. The apparatus further comprises an acceleration/ deceleration means (32) containing an electric potential gradient which is oriented substantially parallel to the path of the structured beam and constant over at least a cross-section of the beam.

Abstract: An apparatus for masked ion-beam lithography comprises a mask maintenance module for prolongation of the lifetime of the stencil mask. The module comprises a deposition means for depositing material to the side of the mask irradiated by the lithography beam, with at least one deposition source being positioned in front of the mask, and further comprises a sputter means in which at least one sputter source, positioned in front of the mask holder means and outside the path of the lithography beam, produces a sputter ion beam directed to the mask in order to sputter off material from said mask in a scanning procedure and compensate for inhomogeneity of deposition.

Abstract: A device (102) for defining a pattern, for use in a particle-beam exposure apparatus (100), said device adapted to be irradiated with a beam (lb,pb) of electrically charged particles and let pass the beam only through a plurality of apertures, comprises an aperture array means (203) and a blanking means (202). The aperture array means (203) has a plurality of apertures (21,230) of identical shape defining the shape of beamlets (bm). The blanking means (202) serves to switch off the passage of selected beamlets; it has a plurality of openings (220), each corresponding to a respective aperture (230) of the aperture array means (203) and being provided with a deflection means (221) controllable to deflect particles radiated through the opening off their path (p1) to an absorbing surface within said exposure apparatus (100). The apertures (21) are arranged on the blanking and aperture array means (202,203) within a pattern definition field (pf) being composed of a plurality of staggered lines (p1) of apertures.

Abstract: In a particle projection lithography system, an alignment system is used to determine alignment parameters to measure the position and shape of an optical image of a pattern of structures formed in a mask and imaged onto a target by means of a broad particle beam, by means of an apparatus with a plurality of alignment marks adapted to produce secondary radiation upon irradiation with radiation of said particle beam. In order to allow for a variation of the alignment parameters along the optical axis, the alignment marks are positioned outside the aperture of the alignment system for the part of the beam that generates said optical image, arranged at positions to coincide with particle reference beams projected through reference beam forming structures provided on the mask while said optical image is projected onto the target, and situated on at least two different levels over the target as seen along the directions of the respective reference beams.

Abstract: In a particle multibeam lithography apparatus an illumination system (242) having a particle source (203) produces an illuminating beam (205) of electrically charged particles, and a multibeam optical system (208) positioned after the illumination system (242) and comprising at least one aperture plate having an array of a plurality of apertures to form a plurality of sub-beams focuses the sub-beams onto the surface of a substrate (220), wherein for each sub-beam (207) a deflection unit (210) is positioned within the multibeam optical system and adapted to correct individual imaging aberrations of the respective sub-beam with respect to the desired target position and/or position the sub-beam during a writing process an the substrate surface Preferably, for each sub-beam the respective aperture of the first aperture plate defines the size and shape of the sub-beam cross-section and the multibeam optical system produces a demagnified image of the aperture on the substrate surface, with a demagnification of at

Abstract: A device (102) for defining a pattern, for use in a particle-beam exposure apparatus (100), said device adapted to be irradiated with a beam (lb,pb) of electrically charged particles and let pass the beam only through a plurality of apertures, comprises an aperture array means (203) and a blanking means (202). The aperture array means (203) has a plurality of apertures (21,230) of identical shape defining the shape of beamlets (bm). The blanking means (202) serves to switch off the passage of selected beamlets; it has a plurality of openings (220), each corresponding to a respective aperture (230) of the aperture array means (203) and being provided with a deflection means (221) controllable to deflect particles radiated through the opening off their path (p1) to an absorbing surface within said exposure apparatus (100). The apertures (21) are arranged on the blanking and aperture array means (202,203) within a pattern definition field (pf) being composed of a plurality of staggered lines (p1) of apertures.

Abstract: A field-ionization source, comprising array of emitter electrodes (31) and counter electrodes (32) positioned at a distance from the base (P1) of the emitter electrodes. The emitter electrodes, ending in emitter tips (61), extend from their bases towards corresponding openings (62) of the counter electrodes and are adapted to be connected to a positive electric high voltage with respect to the counter electrodes. At the emitter tips (61), gas species provided from a source substance are field-ionized by means of the high voltage and ions thus produced are accelerated through the openings (61, 41). A distribution system (43, S2) is provided to distribute said source substance from a supply to the space (S1) around the emitter tips.

Abstract: In a particle projection lithography system, an alignment system is used to determine alignment parameters to measure the position and shape of an optical image of a pattern of structures formed in a mask and imaged onto a target by means of a broad particle beam, by means of an apparatus with a plurality of alignment marks adapted to produce secondary radiation upon irradiation with radiation of said particle beam. In order to allow for a variation of the alignment parameters along the optical axis, the alignment marks are positioned outside the aperture of the alignment system for the part of the beam that generates said optical image, arranged at positions to coincide with particle reference beams projected through reference beam forming structures provided on the mask while said optical image is projected onto the target, and situated on at least two different levels over the target as seen along the directions of the respective reference beams.

Abstract: In a particle-optical imaging lithography system, an illuminating system comprising a particle source and a first electrostatic lens arrangement produces a particle beam which penetrates a mask foil provided with an orifice structure positioned in the particle beam path. This structure is imaged on a substrate plane by a projection system comprising a second electrostatic lens arrangement. The first and second lens arrangements each comprise, on their respective sides facing the mask holding device, at least one pre- and post-mask electrode, respectively. By applying different electrostatic potentials to the pre- and post-mask electrodes and to the mask foil, the mask foil and the pre-mask electrode form a grid lens with negative refracting power, and the mask foil and the post-mask electrode also form a grid lens with negative refracting power.

Abstract: Electrostatic lens for focussing the beams of charged particles, more particularly of ions, which have electrodes being designed as an electric conductor with a ring-shaped section, the inner edge of which is essentially circular, whereas at least one of the electrodes is composed of sector areas (4) succeeding one another along the periphery of an electrode, whereas each sector area is covering one predetermined angle area of the periphery, the sector areas are electrically connected to one another and the sector areas are linked to the holding device via at least one adjusting element per sector area the position of the sector areas may be adjusted irrespective of the other sector areas by means of the adjusting elements during operation of the electrostatic lens. The sector areas may be mechanically separated or extend from one thickness minimum of an electrode cross-section with periodically varying thickness to the next one.

Abstract: An arrangement for shadow-casting lithography by focusing electrically charged particles for the purpose of imaging structures of a mask on a substrate disposed immediately to the rear thereof, comprising a particle source (2) and an extraction system (3) which produces a divergent particle beam issuing from a substantially point-shaped virtual source, and comprising a lens (6) for focusing the divergent particle beam which comprises an electrode arrangement (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f, 6g, 6h) which includes at least one electrostatic collector lens (6a to 6f in conjunction with an electrostatic diverging lens (6g, 6h) in order to be able to compensate lens errors of the collector lens in a purposeful manner with respect to lens errors of the diverging lens and to render possible a predeterminable change in the imaging scale.

Abstract: An electrostatic lens system consisting of several electrodes and a novel method of making same. The invention relates to a lithography apparatus that includes a field composable lens where at least one lens electrode has a novel structure, said structure comprising an outer support structure, an insulating intermediate part and a conductive inner part composed of a number of segment-like subelectrodes that can be individually powered, if necessary, slightly differently to produce desired individual electrostatic subfields to be superimposed to the lens field. With the field composable lens design, it has been successfully demonstrated that a number of shape and alignment errors of lens components can be corrected by supplying slightly different voltages to individual subelectrodes, thus optimizing the overall lens performance (in view of its optical properties).

Abstract: A particle beam, in particular in ionic on the reproduction system, preferably for lithographic purposes, has a particle source, in particular an ion source for reproducing on a wafer a structure designed in a masking foil as one or several transparent spots, in particular openings, through at least two electrostatic lenses arranged upstream of the wafer. One of the lenses is a grating lens constituted by one or two tubular electrodes and by a perforated plate arranged in the path of the beam perpendicularly to the optical axis. The plate is formed by a masking foil which forms the central or first electrode of the granting lens, in the direction of propagation of the beam.

Abstract: An arrangement for masked beam lithography by means of electrically charged particles for the imaging of structures of a mask on a substrate arranged behind it, with a substantially punctiform particle source (Q) and an extraction system (Ex) for a specific type of charged particles which leave the source (Q) in the form of a divergent particle beam, and with an electrode arrangement (B, B', El.sub.1, El.sub.2, E.sub.3, . . . El.sub.n) for concentrating the divergent particle beam into a particle beam which is at least approximately parallel, by means of which an electrostatic acceleration field (E) is generated, the potential (U) of which in the beam direction has a constant gradient at least in parts and perpendicular to the beam direction is substantially constant at least within the beam cross-section. The electrode arrangement can be formed for example by a plurality of coaxial ring electrodes (El.sub.1, El.sub.2, El.sub.3, . . . El.sub.

Abstract: A charged particle, in particular ion projector system, has a mask arranged in the path of the charged particle beam and provided with transparent spots, in particular openings, arranged asymmetrically to the optical axis, which are reproduced on a wafer by means of lenses arranged in the path of the charged particle beam. The charged particle beam has at least one cross-over (crosses the optical axis at least once) between the mask and the wafer. Charged particles with an opposite charge to the charge of the reproduction particles are supplied into the path of the reproduction charged particle beam in a defined area located between the mask and the wafer. The limits that define said area are selected in such a way that the absolute value of the integral effect of the space charge on the particles that reproduce the mask structures is as high upstream of said area (seen in the direction of radiation) as the absolute value of the integral effect of the space charge downstream of said area.