Charged particle beam exposure system and method of exposing a pattern

Abstract

A method of exposing a pattern on a substrate by a charged particle beam includes the steps of energizing first and second mask deflectors provided at an upstream side of a stencil mask simultaneously to obtain a first relativistic relationship of energization between the first and second mask deflectors, energizing the first mask deflector and simultaneously the second mask deflector according to the first relativistic relationship so as to hit a selected aperture on the stencil mask, to obtain an absolute deflection of the charged particle beam as a function of the energization of the first mask deflector, energizing third and fourth mask deflectors provided at a downstream side of the stencil mask simultaneously to obtain a second relativistic relationship of energization between the third and fourth mask deflectors, and energizing the first through fourth mask deflectors according to the first and second relativistic relationship and further to the absolute relationship, such that the charged particle beam is deflected away from an optical axis and hit a selected aperture on the stencil mask while traveling parallel to the optical axis, and such that the charged particle beam passed through the stencil mask is deflected toward the optical axis and deflected again such that the charged particle beam travels toward the substrate in alignment with the optical axis.