Ims Nanofabrication Gmbh

Carl Zeiss Sms Ltd.

Ims Nanofabrication Ag

Ims-ionen Mikrofabrikations Systeme Gmbh

Ims-ionen Mikrofabrikations Systems Bmgh

Herbert Buschbeck

Gerhard Stengl

Alfred Chalupka

Gertraud Lammer

Elmar Platzgummer

Herbert Vonach

Hans Loeschner

Robert Nowak

Till Windischbauer

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

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

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

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-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.

Particle-optical imaging system for lithography purposes

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. The diverging lens is preferably disposed in the beam direction at a distance to the rear of the collector lens in immediate proximity of the mask in order to be able to use the mask as a grating for the diverging lens.

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Vienna, Austria

Herbert Buschbeck