Ims Ionen Mikrofabrikations Systeme Gesellschaft M.b.h.

Ims-ionen Mikrofabrikations Systeme Gmbh

Ims Nanofabrication Gmbh

Carl Zeiss Sms Ltd.

Ims Nanofabrication Ag

Oesterreichische Investitionskredit Aktiengesellschaft

Ims Ionen Mikrofabrikations Systeme Gesellschaft

Ims Ionen Mikrofabrikations Systems Gesellschaft M.b.h.

Electrovac, Fabrikation Elektrotechnischer Spezialartikel Gesellschaft M.b.h.

Oesterreichische Investitionskredit Aktiengesellschaft and Ionen

Ims Ionen Mikrofabrations Systeme Gesellschaft M.b.h.

Ims-ionen Mikropfabrikations Systeme Gmbh

Ims Mikrofabrikations Systeme Gmbh

Ims-ionen Mikrofabrikations Systems Bmgh

Advanced Lithography Group

Gerhard Stengl

Alfred Chalupka

Hans Loschner

Elmar Platzgummer

Herbert Vonach

Herbert Buschbeck

Hans Loeschner

Gertraud Lammer

Robert Nowak

Hans Löschner

Hilton F Glavish

Peter Wolf

Ernst Hammel

Xinhe Tang

Stefan Cernusca

Klaus Mauthner

Stefan Eder

Ernst Hammell

Johannes Fegerl

Helmut Falkner

Till Windischbauer

A beam manipulating arrangement for a multi beam application using charged particles comprises a multi-aperture plate having plural apertures traversed by beams of charged particles. A frame portion of the multi-aperture plate is heated to reduce temperature gradients within the multi-aperture plate. Further, a heat emissivity of a surface of the multi-aperture plate may be higher in some regions as compared to other regions in view of also reducing temperature gradients.

Charged particle beam exposure system and beam manipulating arrangement

The present invention relates to a multi-beamlet multi-column particle-optical system comprising a plurality of columns which are disposed in an array for simultaneously exposing a substrate, each column having an optical axis and comprising: a beamlet generating arrangement comprising at least one multi-aperture plate for generating a pattern of multiple beamlets of charged particles, and an electrostatic lens arrangement comprising at least one electrode element; the at least one electrode element having an aperture defined by an inner peripheral edge facing the optical axis, the aperture having a center and a predetermined shape in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis; wherein in at least one of the plurality of columns, the predetermined shape of the aperture is a non-circular shape with at least one of a protrusion and an indentation from an ideal circle about the center of the aperture.

Particle-optical system

A charged particle system comprises a particle source for generating a beam of charged particles and a particle-optical projection system. The particle-optical projection system comprises a focusing first magnetic lens () comprising an outer pole piece () having a radial inner end ('), and an inner pole piece () having a lowermost end () disposed closest to the radial inner end of the outer pole piece, a gap being formed by those; a focusing electrostatic lens () having at least a first electrode () and a second electrode () disposed in a region of the gap; and a controller (C) configured to control a focusing power of the first electrostatic lens based on a signal indicative of a distance of a surface of a substrate from a portion of the first magnetic lens disposed closest to the substrate.

Charged particle system

In a pattern-lock system of particle-beam apparatus wherein the imaging of the pattern is done by means of at least two consecutive projector stages of the projecting system, reference marks are imaged upon registering means to determine the position of the particle-beam, at the location of an intermediary image of the reference marks produced by a non-final projector stage, with the registering means being positioned at locations of nominal positions of an intermediary imaging plane. Furthermore, to produce a scanning movement over the registering means the reference beamlets are shifted laterally by means of deflector means provided in the pattern defining means in dependence of a time-dependent electric voltage.

Pattern lock system for particle-beam exposure apparatus

A particle-beam projection processing apparatus for irradiating a target, with an illumination system for forming a wide-area illuminating beam of energetic electrically charged particles; a pattern definition means for positioning an aperture pattern in the path of the illuminating beam; and a projection system for projecting the beam thus patterned onto a target to be positioned after the projection system. A foil located across the path of the patterned beam is positioned between the pattern definition means and the position of the target at a location close to an image of the aperture pattern formed by the projection system.

Charged-particle exposure apparatus

For compensation of a magnetic field in an operating region a number of magnetic field sensors (S, S) and an arrangement of compensation coils (Hh) surrounding said operating region is used. The magnetic field is measured by at least two sensors (S, S) 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 (s, s), 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 (d), 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).

Compensation of magnetic fields

In a particle-optical projection system a pattern is imaged onto a target by means of energetic electrically charged particles. The pattern is represented in a patterned beam of said charged particles emerging from the object plane through at least one cross-over; it is imaged into an image with a given size and distortion. To compensate for the Z-deviation of the image position from the actual positioning of the target (Z denotes an axial coordinate substantially parallel to the optical axis), without changing the size of the image, the system includes a position detector for measuring the Z-position of several locations of the target, and a controller for calculating modifications of selected lens parameters of the final particle-optical lens and controlling said lens parameters according to said modifications.

Particle-optical projection system

A charged-particle multi-beam exposure apparatus () for exposure of a target () uses a plurality of beams of electrically charged particles, which propagate along parallel beam paths towards the target (). For each particle beam an illumination system (), a pattern definition means () and a projection optics system () are provided. The illuminating system () and/or the projection optics system () comprise particle-optical lenses having lens elements (L, L, L, L, L) common to more than one particle beam. The pattern definition means () defines a multitude of beamlets in the respective particle beam, forming its shape into a desired pattern which is projected onto the target (), 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.

Charged-particle multi-beam exposure apparatus

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 (f, f) 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 (ri) of said surfaces (f, f).

Particle-optic electrostatic lens

Method of synthesizing carbon nano tubes (CNTs) on a catalyst layer formed on a support member, by catalytic deposition of carbon from a gaseous phase, whereby an ion beam is used prior to, during, and/or after formation of the carbon nano tubes for modifying the physical, chemical, and/or conductive properties of the carbon nanotubes.

Method of synthesising carbon nano tubes

In a particle multibeam lithography apparatus an illumination system () having a particle source () produces an illuminating beam () of electrically charged particles, and a multibeam optical system () positioned after the illumination system () 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 (), wherein for each sub-beam () a deflection unit () 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 least 20:1.

Particle multibeam lithography

A particle-beam exposure apparatus () for irradiating a target () by means of a beam () of energetic electrically charged particles comprises: an illumination system () for generating and forming said particles into a directed beam (); a pattern definition means () 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 () emerging from the pattern definition means through the apertures; and a projection system () positioned after the pattern definition means () for projecting the patterned beam () onto a target (41) positioned after the projection system. The apparatus further comprises an acceleration/deceleration means () 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.

Ion irradiation of a target at very high and very low kinetic ion energies

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.

Apparatus for enhancing the lifetime of stencil masks

A device ( ) for defining a pattern, for use in a particle-beam exposure apparatus ( ), 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 ( ) and a blanking means ( ). The aperture array means ( ) has a plurality of apertures ( ) of identical shape defining the shape of beamlets (bm). The blanking means ( ) serves to switch off the passage of selected beamlets; it has a plurality of openings ( ), each corresponding to a respective aperture ( ) of the aperture array means ( ) and being provided with a deflection means ( ) controllable to deflect particles radiated through the opening off their path (p ) to an absorbing surface within said exposure apparatus ( ). The apertures ( ) are arranged on the blanking and aperture array means ( ) within a pattern definition field (pf) being composed of a plurality of staggered lines (p ) of apertures. Each of the lines (p ) comprises alternately first segments (sf) which are free of apertures and second segments (af) which each comprise a number of apertures spaced apart by a row offset (pm), said row offset being a multiple of the width (w) of apertures, the length (A) of said first segments (sf) being greater than the row offset. In front of the blanking means ( ) as seen in the direction of the particle beam, a cover means ( ) is provided having a plurality of openings ( ), each corresponding to a respective opening ( ) of the blanking means and having a width (w1) which is smaller than the width (w2) of the openings ( ) of the blanking array means.

Maskless particle-beam system for exposing a pattern on a substrate

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.

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Wernberg, Austria

Gerhard Stengl