JP4295263B2 - Charged particle beam exposure method and charged particle beam exposure apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a charged particle beam exposure method and a charged particle beam exposure apparatus, and more particularly to a method and method for creating exposure data for exposing a pattern on a semiconductor wafer with a charged particle beam such as an electron beam. The present invention relates to a charged particle beam exposure apparatus.

  The charged particle beam exposure such as an electron beam can expose a submicron pattern and is used in a manufacturing process of an LSI having a high degree of integration. In particular, recently, not only is it used for manufacturing a mask, but also a resist formed on a semiconductor wafer is directly irradiated with a charged particle beam for exposure.

  In the LSI design process, pattern data of a plurality of layer structures is created in order to form a desired integrated circuit. In accordance with such pattern data, the resist on the semiconductor wafer or the resist on the mask substrate is exposed. Exposure is performed by irradiating a resist film with a charged particle beam and causing a chemical reaction in the resist by the energy of the beam.

  In that case, a point to be considered is the proximity exposure effect caused by forward scattering and backscattering of the beam in the resist when the resist is irradiated with the charged particle beam. The proximity exposure effect is a phenomenon in which, when a charged particle beam is irradiated to a certain area, the beam energy spreads to an adjacent area due to scattering of the beam. For example, in an area where the exposure pattern density is high, the developed pattern is enlarged due to the influence of the energy of the charged particle beam irradiated to the adjacent exposure pattern area. Alternatively, in an area where the exposure pattern density is low, there is no influence of energy from an adjacent area, and the developed pattern is reduced or thinned.

  Therefore, it is necessary to correct the designed exposure data in consideration of the proximity exposure effect. The present applicant has proposed a patent application dated January 29, 1996, Japanese Patent Application No. 8-13354 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-321462) as a method for correcting the exposure data.

  In summary, the method proposed in this patent application generates a plurality of mask areas in a subfield and modifies the pattern density in that area according to the influence from the pattern density of the surrounding area, so that proximity exposure is performed. A substantial pattern density considering the effect is obtained, the exposure amount (exposure intensity) of the pattern belonging to the area is corrected according to the substantial pattern density, and an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated.

  However, since an area of a predetermined size is generated regardless of the position of the pattern existing in the subfield, and an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated using the area as a pattern unit, an appropriate auxiliary corresponding to the actual exposure pattern is generated. There are cases where an exposure pattern cannot be generated. Furthermore, even when the pattern density in the area is corrected according to the influence of the pattern density in the surrounding area, the distance between the areas and the distance between the actual patterns may be different. Cannot be reflected. In addition, it is a data processing step that uniformly generates the above-described area, corrects the pattern density, and generates the auxiliary exposure pattern even for subfields repeatedly arranged with the same exposure pattern. Is unnecessarily long, and is not suitable for creating exposure data for LSIs with a higher degree of integration.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional problems and create exposure data capable of forming a pattern with higher accuracy, and a charged particle beam exposure method for implementing the same. To provide an apparatus.

  Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide charged particle beam exposure that can generate exposure data that solves an inappropriate point due to a deviation between an area uniformly generated in a subfield and an actual exposure pattern. A method and a charged particle beam exposure apparatus for implementing the method.

  Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam exposure method capable of reflecting the influence from the pattern density of the surrounding area according to the actual pattern position, and a charged particle beam exposure apparatus for implementing the method. It is to provide.

  Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam exposure method capable of reducing a data processing load on subfields repeatedly arranged with the same exposure pattern, and a charged particle implementing the same. A beam exposure apparatus is provided.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention obtains exposure data having exposure pattern data for each subfield from pattern data having pattern data for each of a plurality of subfields in a main field, and a sample according to the exposure data. In the charged particle beam exposure method for exposing
(A) generating a plurality of areas in the subfield;
(B) obtaining a pattern density in the area, and reexamining the pattern density according to the pattern density of the area around the area and the distance between the areas;
(C) generating an auxiliary exposure pattern in the area when the reviewed pattern density of the area is lower than a predetermined exposure reference density;
And (d) a step of exposing the sample according to exposure data obtained by adding the auxiliary exposure pattern data to the pattern data, and based on a charged particle beam exposure method.

  And when the distance between the pattern presence areas where the pattern exists is larger than a predetermined reference distance, the first invention is an area between the pattern existence areas and having a pattern density higher than the exposure reference density. Furthermore, it has the process of generating an auxiliary exposure pattern.

  According to the first invention, there is a mismatch between the exposure pattern and the area generated in the subfield, and even if the auxiliary exposure pattern does not occur when judged according to the pattern density in the area, When the distance between the pattern existing areas is a certain distance or more, an auxiliary exposure pattern can be generated. Therefore, even when the exposure pattern and the area cannot be matched, it is possible to appropriately generate the auxiliary exposure pattern and provide an appropriate proximity exposure effect.

  The second invention is characterized in that the auxiliary exposure pattern has a desired exposure amount distribution according to a resist material on the sample.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if the exposure energy spread characteristic differs depending on the resist material, an auxiliary exposure pattern having an exposure distribution according to the characteristic can be generated. Therefore, the optimum proximity exposure effect can be given according to the resist material.

  The third invention is characterized in that the step (a) generates a plurality of areas around a predetermined range in a point symmetry from the center of the region where the pattern exists in the subfield.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, the area is generated point-symmetrically from the center of the pattern existing area, thereby preventing the exposure pattern and the area from mismatching and generating the auxiliary exposure pattern that matches the exposure pattern. it can.

  In a fourth invention, the step (b) obtains the pattern density in the area and reviews the pattern density in accordance with the pattern density of the area around the area and the distance between the pattern existing areas in the area. Features.

  According to the fourth aspect, since the influence of exposure from the pattern in the surrounding area is obtained from the distance between the pattern existing areas, the influence of exposure can be obtained more accurately. As a result, a more accurate auxiliary exposure pattern can be generated. Preferably, the distance between the pattern existence areas is a distance between the centroids of the pattern existence areas.

  5th invention performs the said process (a)-(c) with respect to the first subfield of the said subfield arrange | positioned repeatedly when the subfield which has the same pattern data is repeatedly arranged, When no auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the first subfield, the steps (a) to (c) are omitted except for at least a part of the remaining subfield.

  According to said 5th invention, the calculation speed can be shortened about the subfield arrange | positioned repeatedly.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when generating charged particle beam exposure data, an area is generated in a subfield to obtain a pattern density of the area, and an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated according to the pattern density. Even when the exposure pattern and the area cannot be matched, it is possible to generate an auxiliary exposure pattern optimum for the exposure pattern.

  Further, according to the present invention, as described above, even when the exposure pattern and the area cannot be matched, the auxiliary exposure pattern can be added by checking the distance between the exposure patterns, so that the proximity exposure effect is insufficient. Thus, the phenomenon that the development pattern is thin can be prevented.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, as described above, even when the auxiliary exposure pattern is uniformly generated in the size of the area, the auxiliary exposure pattern having a stepwise exposure amount distribution can be appropriately generated according to the resist material. Therefore, the proximity exposure effect optimum for the resist material can be generated.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, the problem of mismatching between the exposure pattern and the area can be solved by generating an area around the center of the area of the exposure pattern cluster.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, when the pattern density of an area is obtained and the pattern density is reviewed in consideration of the exposure effect from the pattern of the surrounding area, the degree of influence depends on the distance between the pattern existing regions in the surrounding area. Therefore, it is possible to generate an auxiliary exposure pattern with higher accuracy.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, in the matrix arrangement subfield, the above-described calculation only needs to be performed for the first matrix arrangement subfield as a reference, and the calculation of the remaining matrix arrangement subfield can be omitted. The calculation time for obtaining exposure data from design data can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, such an embodiment does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. Although the present invention is applied to a charged particle beam exposure method and apparatus, the following embodiments will be described by taking an electron beam exposure method and apparatus as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an electron beam exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the electron beam exposure apparatus inputs design data Din having pattern data, outputs exposure data Dout that takes into account the proximity exposure effect, and supplies the exposure data Dout to control the exposure apparatus. An electron beam control device 200 and a lens barrel 300. In the lens barrel 300, an electron gun 31, a rectangular transmission mask 32, a transmission transmission mask 34 such as a block mask, mask deflectors 33 and 35, a focal lens 36, an electromagnetic deflector 37, an electrostatic deflector 38, and the like An X and Y stage 39 on which the wafer 40 is placed is provided. The rectangular beam formed by the transmission mask 32 passes through a predetermined mask on the transmission mask selected by the mask deflectors 33 and 35, and is irradiated to a desired position on the wafer 40 by the deflectors 37 and 38.

  Control signal S1 to the mask deflectors 33 and 35, control signal S2 to move the transmission mask 34 in the horizontal direction, control signal S3 to the focal lens, control signal S4 to the electromagnetic deflector 37, and to the electrostatic deflector 38 A control signal S5 and a stage control signal S6 are generated by the electron beam control apparatus 200.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the exposure data creation apparatus 100 described above. A design data file 102 in which design data Din is stored, an area generation unit 103 that generates an area in a subfield area, a pattern density generation unit 104 that calculates a pattern density in the area, an area that takes into account the influence between the areas A pattern density correction unit 105 for correcting the pattern density in the area, a pattern density file 106 for storing pattern density data in the area, an exposure amount correction unit 107 for correcting the exposure amount of the pattern in the area according to the pattern density, and the pattern density The auxiliary exposure pattern generation unit 108 that generates an auxiliary exposure pattern in the area and the exposure data file 109 that stores the exposure data. These are connected to the arithmetic unit 111 via the bus 110.

[Outline of exposure data generation method]
An outline of a method for generating exposure data from design data will be described below. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the main field MF and the subfield SF in the semiconductor chip 10. Usually, a plurality of semiconductor chips 10 are formed on a semiconductor wafer. FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the main field and the subfield in the semiconductor chip 10. As shown in the exposure apparatus of FIG. 1, the electron beam deflector comprises an electromagnetic deflector 37 with a slow response speed but a large deflection range and an electrostatic deflector 38 with a fast response speed but a narrow deflection range. The main field MF refers to an area that can be deflected by the electromagnetic deflector 37, and the subfield SF refers to an area that can be deflected by the electrostatic deflector 38.

  The X and Y stages 39 of the exposure apparatus are driven to move the wafer to the center of the desired main field MF, the electron beam is deflected by the electromagnetic deflector 37 in the main field MF, and the electrons are further shaped into a desired shape. The beam is deflected by the electrostatic deflector 38 and irradiated to a desired position. In the example of FIG. 3, one main field 12 is divided into sub-fields SF00 to SF44 of 5 rows and 5 columns.

  In the example of FIG. 3, in the main field 12, single array subfields SSF having different patterns and matrix arrangement subfields MSF repeatedly arranged with the same pattern are arranged. The repeatedly arranged matrix arrangement subfield MSF is a subfield often found in, for example, a memory cell region of a memory device. On the other hand, the single arrangement subfield is a subfield found in peripheral circuits, logic circuits, and the like. In this manner, the chip 10 is divided into a plurality of main fields and a plurality of subfields in each main field, and the design data Din has pattern data existing in each subfield.

  Note that the subfields do not necessarily have to be laid out without overlapping or spaced apart as shown in FIG. 3, and may partially overlap or be spaced.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of design data related to subfields in the main field 12 of FIG. In this example, the data in the subfields SF00 to SF44 includes the subfield center coordinates (x, y), the number of patterns n, and the pattern address ad. In this example, the subfield data is arranged in the order of subfields SSF00, SSF01... MSF11, MSF12.

  On the other hand, the pattern data has, for example, coordinates (x, y) at the lower left of the pattern, and a width w and a height h of the pattern. The address ad in the subfield data area indicates an address in the pattern data, and means that the pattern in the address area of the number n of patterns from the address is the pattern data in each subfield. To do.

  Therefore, the data of the single arrangement subfield SSF has different pattern data addresses. On the other hand, the data in the matrix arrangement subfield MSF has the same pattern data address. The data structure of the matrix arrangement subfield is referred to as a hierarchical data structure in this specification. With such a hierarchical data configuration, the amount of pattern data can be reduced.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exposure process including creation of exposure data. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a certain subfield SF. The method of creating exposure data will be described using the example of the subfield of FIG.

  In step S11 of FIG. 5, an exposure amount Q corresponding to the shape of each pattern is set. This exposure amount Q is set to be strong when the pattern shape is thin, for example, and relatively weak when the pattern shape is thick or large. Then, the set exposure amount Q (not shown) is added to each pattern data. There are various methods for setting the exposure amount Q in accordance with the pattern shape, but they are omitted because they are not essential in this embodiment.

  Next, the hierarchical data is recognized from the design data including all the subfields on the chip and the pattern data (S12). For example, whether the subfield has the attribute of the single arrangement subfield SSF, the matrix arrangement subfield MSF, the first original matrix arrangement subfield among the matrix arrangement subfields, etc. Confirmed from design data. Therefore, the attribute data ad (not shown) is added to the subfield data.

  The design data only includes a pattern to be formed on the resist layer on the wafer. However, when the resist layer on the wafer is irradiated with an electron beam, a region having a high pattern density receives more beam energy due to the proximity exposure effect. On the other hand, in the region where the pattern density is low, there is no proximity exposure effect and exposure is performed with less beam energy. Therefore, in consideration of the proximity exposure effect, the exposure amount of the design data pattern is reviewed, and if necessary, the auxiliary exposure is performed to positively generate the proximity exposure effect and develop the pattern shape after development. It is necessary to increase the accuracy of. In this embodiment, in order to generate exposure data based on the design data, a smaller map area is generated in the subfield, and the exposure amount is reviewed and assisted based on the pattern density in the area. An exposure pattern is generated.

  The subfield SF shown in FIG. 6 includes patterns P1, P2, and P3. In each of the patterns P1, P2, and P3, exposure amounts Q1, Q2, and Q3 corresponding to the respective pattern shapes are set in step S11. Further, areas a11 to a55 of 5 rows and 5 columns are generated in the subfield SF (S13). This area is generated by the area generator 103 shown in FIG. As a method for generating the area, for example, a region having a predetermined size is arranged in a matrix with reference to the lower left position of the subfield SF. Therefore, the end of the subfield does not necessarily coincide with the end of the area.

  In the example of FIG. 6, the pattern P1 is located on the areas a21, a22, a31, a32, a41, a42. The pattern P2 is located on the areas a13, a23, a33, a43, a53. Furthermore, the pattern P3 is located on the areas a24, a25, a34, a35, a44, and a45.

  Therefore, in step S14, the pattern density in each area is obtained. That is, it is obtained by the pattern density generation unit 104 in FIG. FIG. 7 is an example in which the pattern density Smn for each area in the subfield of the example of FIG. 6 is entered. That is, the ratio of the pattern area to the area of the areas a32, a34, etc. is as high as 75%, and the pattern density of the area a11, etc. where no pattern exists is 0%.

  Next, in step S15, the pattern density in each area is reviewed according to the influence of the proximity exposure effect between the areas. The review of the pattern density is performed by the pattern density correction unit in FIG. Due to the proximity exposure effect, the energy of the electron beam applied to the pattern in the area located around the area affects the area according to the distance between the areas. The effect is greater from the closer area, and less affected from the farther area. Therefore, in this embodiment, a coefficient β (r) (r is a distance between areas) that is substantially inversely proportional to the distance is set in advance, and the pattern density Smn of the surrounding area is multiplied by the coefficient β (r). And add to the pattern density of the area of interest.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the pattern density review according to the influence of the proximity exposure effect between the areas. In this example, the pattern density of the area a33 is reviewed. The influence of the proximity exposure effect from the areas a11 to a55 around the area a33 is added to the pattern density of the area a33. For example, since the pattern density of the area a11 is 0% (= S11), the influence is S11 × β (r (a11−a33)) = 0. r (a11-a33) indicates the distance between the centers between the areas a11 and a33. The area a12 is also 0. Since the pattern density of the area a13 is 25% (= S13), the influence degree is S13 × β (r (a13−a33)). Similarly, it performs about area a14-a55. As a result, the pattern density of the area a33 is corrected from 50% to, for example, 60%.

  The area a33 has an area with a high pattern density at a nearby position around the area a33. Therefore, the energy of the electron beam irradiated to the surrounding area has a large influence on the area a33. In consideration of the effect of the proximity exposure effect, the substantial pattern density SR33 of the area a33 is a value obtained by adding the density ΔS33 due to the influence from the surroundings to the own pattern density S33.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the pattern density in each area after the result of reviewing the pattern density in the area. An area where a high pattern density exists around the area has a high pattern density, for example, about 10%, and an area where such an area does not exist around the area has a high pattern density, for example, about 5%. It should be noted that the influence from the area in the adjacent subfield is added to the area located around the subfield SF such as the area a11 in the same manner as described above.

  Step S16 is a step of detecting a pattern existence region in a high-density subfield. This step will be described in the auxiliary exposure pattern generation step described later.

  Now, as shown in FIG. 9, when the pattern density of each area is reviewed, the correction of the exposure amount of each pattern P1, P2, P3 (S17) and the auxiliary are performed based on the reviewed pattern density SRmn. An exposure pattern is generated (S18).

  In step S11, the exposure amount Q is set according to the shape of each of the patterns P1, P2, and P3. On the other hand, in the correction of the exposure amount in step S17, the influence of the proximity exposure effect from the surrounding pattern is considered. To correct the exposure amount. For this purpose, the substantial pattern density for each area reviewed in step S15 is used. That is, when the substantial pattern density SRmn is higher than the reference value, it is greatly affected by the proximity exposure effect, so that the exposure amount of the pattern belonging to the area is reduced.

  On the other hand, when the substantial pattern density SRmn for each area reviewed in step S15 is lower than the reference value, the influence of the proximity exposure effect is small. Therefore, in order to perform auxiliary exposure for this area, an auxiliary exposure pattern is set. Generated and added to the exposure data. Here, the auxiliary exposure pattern is an exposure pattern for giving an amount of energy corresponding to the proximity exposure effect to an area having a low pattern density, and a low exposure amount, for example, about several percent of the exposed energy is uniform. Is an exposure pattern. The size of the auxiliary exposure pattern is preferably about the size of an area. However, the position of the auxiliary exposure pattern is not necessarily the same as the area generated in the pattern density review.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a correction table used in the exposure amount correction step (S17) and the auxiliary exposure pattern generation step (S18). In this example, the pattern density SRmn of the area is divided into 11 stages, and the exposure amount correction ratio α and the auxiliary exposure pattern of each section are shown. In this example, when the reference value is set to 45.5% and the pattern density of the area is larger than the reference value, the exposure amount Q of the pattern in the area is multiplied by the ratio α in FIG. That is, the exposure amount of the pattern in the area where the pattern density SRmn exceeds 90.5% is multiplied by the ratio α = 0.1 to the set exposure amount Q. Similarly, when the pattern density SRmn of the area is 81.5 to 90.5%, the set exposure amount Q is multiplied by the ratio α = 0.2.

  On the other hand, when the pattern density of the area is lower than the reference value, it means that the density in the vicinity of the area is low, and the developed pattern after exposure becomes thin. Therefore, an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated as exposure data in such an area in order to perform auxiliary exposure. In the example of FIG. 10, an auxiliary exposure pattern for generating auxiliary exposures 1 to 5 is generated for stages 1 to 5 having a low pattern density. The auxiliary exposure 1 has a larger exposure amount, and the auxiliary exposure 5 has a smaller exposure amount. The auxiliary exposure pattern is a pattern having the same size as the area.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing subfields when the exposure amount of a pattern in an area with a high pattern density is reduced and an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in an area with a low pattern density. In this example, the exposure amount Q of the patterns P1, P2, P3 belonging to the areas a22, a32, a23, a33, a43, a24, a34 having a high pattern density is reduced by multiplying by the ratio α. Further, auxiliary exposure patterns (thick lines) are generated in areas a11 to a21, a25, a31, a35 to a42, and a44 to a55 having a low pattern density.

  In the example of FIG. 11, the area generated for obtaining the pattern density is used as the auxiliary exposure pattern area as it is. However, the area of the auxiliary exposure pattern may be an area different from the area for generating the pattern density.

  As shown in FIG. 5, similarly for each subfield, an area is generated to obtain the pattern density, the pattern density is reviewed by the influence from the surrounding area, and the pattern exposure amount is used as an index. Q correction and auxiliary exposure pattern generation are performed. As a result, exposure data is created.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the created exposure data. First, in the design data of FIG. 4, the pattern data has the position data (x, y), the width w, and the height h, whereas the pattern data of the exposure data further has an exposure amount Q. . This exposure amount Q is a value that is set by the shape of the initial pattern (S11) and is corrected using the pattern density of the area. Second, the design data of FIG. 4 does not have attribute data such as a single arrangement subfield, a matrix arrangement subfield, and an original subfield as subfield data, but the subfield data of exposure data includes The attribute data at is added in the hierarchical data recognition step (S12). Third, the design data includes subfields SSF00 to SSF44 and pattern data included in the subfield. However, the exposure data has auxiliary exposure subfields TSSF1 to TSSFn having auxiliary exposure patterns as subfields.

  In order to maintain the hierarchical structure of the subfield data and the pattern data, the auxiliary exposure pattern is added to the exposure data as exposure patterns in the temporary single arrangement subfields TSSF1 to TSSFn which are a kind of newly added single arrangement subfields. be registered. In FIG. 12, provisional single arrangement subfields TSSF1 to TSSFn are added after the single arrangement subfield SSF44. This temporary single arrangement subfield has an auxiliary exposure pattern of the size of the area. Since the auxiliary exposure pattern in each temporary single arrangement subfield is not repeated, the nature of the temporary single arrangement subfield is equivalent to that of the single arrangement subfield. Therefore, as the exposure data, the single arrangement subfield and the temporary single arrangement subfield are handled in the same manner. Note that a plurality of auxiliary exposure patterns are generated in the temporary single arrangement arrangement subfield.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the subfields are not necessarily areas that are spread all over the main field, but may be areas that partially overlap each other due to an internal exposure pattern. In the exposure process, the electron beam is simply irradiated onto the exposure pattern included in each subfield at the position of each subfield. Accordingly, it is allowed to register the subfield of the auxiliary exposure pattern so as to overlap the subfield of the exposure pattern. Thereby, the auxiliary exposure pattern can be added to the exposure data without destroying the hierarchical data structure.

  As described above, the exposure amount of the pattern of the temporary single arrangement subfield added to the subfield of the design data is not strong enough to expose the resist by itself.

  Then, the exposure data Dout created in this way is supplied to the electron beam controller, and electron beam exposure is performed according to the exposure data (S20).

  A characteristic of the above-described exposure data creation method is that an area is generated in a subfield in order to create exposure data that takes into account the proximity exposure effect that depends on the exposure density and distance. Then, based on the substantial pattern density SRmn obtained by adding the proximity exposure effect from the surrounding area to the pattern density Smn of the area, the exposure amount is corrected and the auxiliary exposure pattern is generated. Then, the auxiliary exposure pattern is not the pattern data in the existing subfield, but the pattern data of the newly generated temporary single arrangement subfield.

  However, in the above method, since an area is generated in the subfield regardless of the internal pattern shape and position, various problems arise due to this. Furthermore, since the shape of the auxiliary exposure pattern is the shape of the area generated regardless of the shape and position of the actual pattern, it may be different from an ideal auxiliary exposure pattern that can solve the problem of the proximity exposure effect. In the following, each problem will be described in detail, and the means for solving it will be described.

[Generation of auxiliary exposure pattern between pattern existing areas]
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an auxiliary exposure pattern generated in an area in the matrix arrangement subfield MSF. The matrix arrangement subfield MSF is typically a subfield in which the same pattern is exposed repeatedly at high density as in the memory cell region. In such a subfield, the areas 41 to 45 where the pattern exists are arranged with a certain interval. That is, there are pattern cuts 51 to 54 between the pattern existence regions 41 to 45. The area amn generated in the subfield and the pattern existence areas 41 to 45 do not match, and the areas 51 and 53 match, but the areas 52 and 54 match. do not do.

  In such a situation, based on the pattern density for each area described above, an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in an area where the pattern density is low and an auxiliary exposure pattern is not generated in an area where the pattern density is high. An auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the thick frame area, and no auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the thin frame area. Therefore, although all of the breaks 51 to 54 have the same exposure pattern arrangement, there is a disadvantage that the auxiliary exposure pattern is generated or not generated depending on the consistency with the area. As a result, since the auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the area A1 in FIG. 13, there is no problem of thinning of the development pattern, but no auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the area A2, and the development pattern The problem of thinning occurs.

  In the present embodiment, in order to solve the adverse effects of the auxiliary exposure pattern generation method based on the pattern density of the area, the pattern existence region data in the area is generated, and even if the pattern density in the area is high, When the distance between the pattern existing areas exceeds a certain distance, for example, about the size of the area, an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the area.

  FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of a portion of the area A2 in FIG. In this figure, six areas amn are shown. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of area data. In this example, when areas a11 to aij are present in the subfield SFmn, each area serves as area data, including area position data, lower left and upper right position data of the pattern existing area within the area, and pattern density data within the area. , Pattern density data after review, flag data indicating whether or not an auxiliary exposure pattern has occurred, and flag data indicating whether or not the area is in a matrix arrangement subfield.

  That is, when the area amn is generated in the matrix arrangement subfield, the data of the area where the pattern in each area amn exists is generated.

  Therefore, first, the auxiliary exposure pattern is generated as described above according to the review pattern density in the area, and then the pattern existence area is recognized with reference to the area data. When the pattern existence areas 41 to 45 in the subfield are recognized, the distance L1 to the adjacent pattern existence area is calculated for the surrounding area. As shown in FIG. 14A, when the distance L1 between the pattern existence regions 42 and 43 is larger than a reference distance Lref, an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the peripheral area.

  The reference distance Lref can be determined according to the proximity exposure effect. For example, the size of one area which is a unit capable of generating an auxiliary exposure pattern is preferable. That is, an auxiliary exposure pattern is newly generated in an area where an area having a low pattern density may occur depending on the matching between the position of the area and the pattern existence area.

  FIG. 14B shows a state in which the auxiliary exposure pattern 60 is generated in six areas amn. The auxiliary exposure pattern 60 in the shaded portion in the figure is newly generated.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing matrix arrangement subfields when a new auxiliary exposure pattern is generated. An auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the bold line area. As is clear from comparison with FIG. 1313, a new auxiliary exposure pattern is generated at the break 52 between the pattern existence areas 42 and 43 and the break 54 between the pattern existence areas 44 and 45. As a result, there is a difference in the development pattern between the areas A1 and A2 in the case of FIG. 13, but in the case of FIG. 1616, an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in the area around the pattern existing area, and the area A1. , A2, there is no difference in the development pattern, and a development pattern of an appropriate size can be obtained.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the auxiliary exposure pattern generation. This flowchart shows the details of step S18 in FIG. As described above, according to the correction table shown in FIG. 10, an auxiliary exposure pattern having an exposure amount corresponding to the pattern density in the area is generated and registered in the temporary single arrangement subfield (S31). Thereafter, an area around the pattern existence region in the matrix arrangement subfield is recognized (S32). If the distance L1 to the adjacent pattern existence area is larger than the reference distance Lref for these areas (S33), an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated in that area and additionally registered in the temporary single arrangement subfield (S34). .

[Generation of stepwise auxiliary exposure patterns]
The generation of the auxiliary exposure pattern positively produces a proximity exposure effect by performing exposure with an energy that does not lead to development in a region where the exposure pattern density is low. This prevents a pattern having no exposure pattern in the periphery from becoming thin after development. The proximity exposure effect occurs when the energy of the electron beam applied to the resist layer spreads around. Then, by generating an auxiliary exposure pattern in an area where the pattern density is low, the energy of the electron beam applied thereto is spread, and energy of the proximity exposure effect is given to the adjacent original exposure pattern. Therefore, the generation of the auxiliary exposure pattern is premised on the diffusion of the energy of the electron beam for a certain amount of auxiliary exposure.

  The spread of the electron beam energy depends on the resist material. In general, an optimum resist material is used according to the fineness and density of the pattern to be formed. Therefore, the electron beam exposure apparatus is required to generate an auxiliary exposure pattern that can be applied to resists of different materials.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a state in which an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated around the exposure pattern. In this example, the auxiliary exposure pattern 71 is generated around the exposure patterns 61 to 64 in the region having the exposure patterns 61 to 64. FIG. 18 does not show the generated area for the sake of simplicity. In the example of FIG. 18, the auxiliary exposure pattern 71 is generated in an area where the pattern density is low, based on the pattern density of the generated area.

  In the case of a resist made of a material having a certain electron beam spreading characteristic, the energy is spread to the exposure patterns 61 to 64 by irradiation of the electron beam onto the auxiliary exposure pattern 71, and the pattern can be prevented from thinning. . However, in contrast to this, in the case of a resist made of a material having a poor electron beam spreading characteristic, the position of the auxiliary exposure pattern 71 in the drawing is away from the exposure patterns 61 to 64, so that the proximity exposure effect sufficient for the exposure pattern is obtained. It cannot be generated.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the region where the auxiliary exposure pattern is generated is expanded not only to an area having a low pattern density but also to the area and the surrounding area in accordance with the characteristics of the resist material. In addition, when expanding to the surrounding area, the exposure amount Q is set stepwise so as to obtain an expansion distribution in the case of a resist having an ideal expansion characteristic. The total exposure amount is set equal to the case where the area cannot be expanded.

  FIG. 19 shows an example of a ratio table that takes into account the spreading characteristics of the auxiliary exposure pattern. In this example, an auxiliary exposure pattern 76 in which expansion is taken into consideration when the auxiliary exposure pattern 75 is generated at the center of an area of 7 rows and 7 columns is shown. It shows that the energy distribution goes from 75 to 76. And even if it spreads, the total energy needs to be equal to the energy of the auxiliary exposure pattern generated in a single area.

  The matrix of FIG. 19 shows the ratios S11 to S77, and these ratios satisfy the following mathematical formula.

1.0 = S11 / (S11 + S12 + ... + S67 + S77) + ...... + S77 / (S11 + S12 + ... + S67 + S77)
As is apparent from the above, depending on the resist material, it is necessary to generate an auxiliary exposure pattern having a stepwise exposure amount so as to obtain an exposure amount distribution 76 in consideration of the spread.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example in which the auxiliary exposure pattern of FIG. 18 is changed to an auxiliary exposure pattern having a stepwise exposure amount distribution. In addition to the auxiliary exposure pattern 71 of FIG. 18, an additional auxiliary exposure pattern 72 is generated between the exposure patterns 61 to 64 and the auxiliary exposure pattern 71. The exposure amount of the additional auxiliary exposure pattern 72 is set to be weaker than the auxiliary exposure pattern 71, and is set so that the total exposure amount does not increase. In the example of FIG. 20, the exposure amount of the auxiliary exposure pattern 71 is weaker than that of FIG. 18, and the exposure amount of the additional auxiliary exposure pattern 72 is still weaker.

  In an actual exposure apparatus, the case where only the auxiliary exposure pattern 71 shown in FIG. 18 is generated and the case where the auxiliary exposure patterns 71 and 72 shown in FIG. 20 are generated can be selected in accordance with the resist material to be used. Further, when the types of resist increase, auxiliary exposure patterns having a plurality of types of stepwise exposure amounts having different degrees of spread can be generated.

  The generation of the auxiliary exposure pattern is also shown in the flowchart of FIG. In step S36, if it is necessary to generate a stepwise auxiliary exposure pattern depending on the resist material to be used and consequently to have spreading characteristics, the stepwise exposure amount of the once generated auxiliary exposure pattern is reduced. The auxiliary exposure pattern is changed (S37). Therefore, the changed auxiliary exposure pattern becomes a pattern having more areas. The auxiliary exposure pattern changed in this way is added as pattern data in the temporary single arrangement subfield as described above. Therefore, the exposure amount of the pattern data has a stepwise distribution.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an exposure amount distribution of the auxiliary exposure pattern of FIG. It is exposure amount distribution along the vertical direction of FIG. The originally developed exposure patterns 61 to 64 have a high exposure amount, while the auxiliary exposure pattern 71 therebetween has a lower exposure amount. Furthermore, the added auxiliary exposure pattern 72 has a lower exposure amount.

[Generation of areas that match the pattern]
In this embodiment, an area is generated in the subfield, the pattern density in the area is obtained, a new pattern density is obtained in consideration of the influence from the pattern in the surrounding area, and the revised new An auxiliary exposure pattern is generated based on the pattern density. Moreover, the auxiliary exposure pattern is a pattern in units of areas.

  However, the consistency between the exposure pattern to be actually developed and the auxiliary exposure pattern in units of areas is poor, and different auxiliary exposure patterns may be generated even with the same exposure pattern.

  FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an auxiliary exposure pattern generated for the exposure pattern in the subfield. In this example, there are three exposure patterns PA, PB, and PC in the subfield SF, and an auxiliary exposure pattern indicated by a thick line is generated in a region surrounding the exposure pattern PA, PB, and PC. Each auxiliary exposure pattern has a size covering an area of 12 rows and 3 columns.

  The exposure patterns PA, PB, and PC are under the same exposure density conditions as shown. However, the pattern PA is located at the left end of the area, the pattern PB is located at the center of the area, and the pattern PC is located at the right end of the area. As a result, the auxiliary exposure pattern generated with respect to the pattern PB is symmetrical with respect to the pattern PB. On the other hand, the auxiliary exposure pattern generated with respect to the patterns PA and PB is not symmetrical with respect to the patterns PA and PC. Such inconvenience is caused by the generation of an area independent of the position of the exposure pattern.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, an area depending on the position of the existing pattern is generated. For this purpose, an area where a pattern is present is obtained, and an area is generated around the point symmetrically from the center or the center of gravity of the pattern existing area. Moreover, the occurrence around the area is limited to the range where the proximity exposure effect occurs. In the area outside it, since the pattern itself does not exist even if the area is originally generated, it is not necessary to generate the auxiliary exposure pattern in the first place, so it is not necessary to generate the area itself.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a method for detecting an existing area of an exposure pattern in a subfield. FIG. 2424 is a diagram showing a method of generating an area that matches the detected pattern existence region. The example of FIG. 23 is an example in which a cluster of two patterns exists in the subfield SF.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4, the pattern data has coordinates (x, y) at the lower left of the pattern, a width w and a height h of the pattern. Therefore, when an area is generated in the target subfield SF, the pattern data in the subfield SF and the pattern data in the adjacent subfield are read from the design data. Then, as shown in FIG. 23, since the patterns p01 and p02 are adjacent to each other, a pattern existence area A01 obtained by synthesizing them is created. Further, the pattern existence area A01 and the pattern p03 adjacent thereto are synthesized. In that case, the widths A01W and p03W are compared, and the larger width p03W is defined as the width of the new pattern existence region A02.

  By performing the above algorithm on all the read pattern data, two pattern existence areas 82 and 83 are created in the subfield SF as shown by a broken line in FIG. In this example, the pattern existence areas 82 and 83 protrude from the area of the subfield SF. When generating a pattern existence area by combining a plurality of patterns, the plurality of patterns do not have to be adjacent to each other, and can be combined as a pattern existence area even when they are close to each other within a predetermined distance. .

  FIG. 24 shows a state where areas matching the pattern existence areas 82 and 83 are generated. Starting from the centers 82C and 83C of the two pattern existence areas 82 and 83 created in the subfield SF, point-symmetric areas amn are respectively generated. In this case, the area generation area only needs to extend from the pattern existence areas 82 and 83 to the exposure influence range L2. In the example of FIG. 24, both pattern existence regions 82 and 83 exist with a distance of at least twice the exposure influence range L2. Accordingly, the areas generated in the pattern existence areas 82 and 83 do not overlap each other.

  In the subfield SF, there is a region where some area does not occur, but in the first place, such a region is not affected by exposure, the pattern density of the region becomes zero, and generation of an auxiliary exposure pattern is unnecessary. There will be no trouble.

  Further, when the pattern existence areas 82 and 83 are close to each other within twice the exposure influence range L2, they are combined to generate a new pattern existence area, whereby an auxiliary exposure pattern is formed in each area. Duplicate occurrences can be prevented. Alternatively, if the areas generated in the two pattern existing areas overlap, the flag indicating whether or not the auxiliary exposure pattern of the area data shown in FIG. Generation of a new auxiliary exposure pattern can be prohibited. Alternatively, since the exposure amount of the auxiliary exposure pattern itself is small, it is possible to allow some overlap of the auxiliary exposure pattern and perform data processing so that the total exposure amount of the target area does not exceed a certain threshold.

  As shown in FIG. 24, by generating an area that matches each pattern existence area, the auxiliary exposure pattern having the area as a generation unit is matched with the pattern, and the adverse effects shown in FIG. 22 can be avoided.

[Inter-area proximity exposure effect]
In the method of generating the auxiliary exposure pattern in consideration of the proximity exposure effect in the present embodiment, the method is performed based on the pattern density of the area generated in the subfield. For the pattern density in this area, the density of the pattern that actually exists and the influence given by the proximity exposure effect from the pattern in the surrounding area are added as the pattern density. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, in order to detect the degree of exposure influence from the pattern of the surrounding area, the coefficient of the exposure pattern density of the surrounding area and the distance r to the target area, for example, 1 / (1 + r) Multiply

  FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating detection of the degree of exposure influence on the center area AREA22 in the areas AREA11 to AREA33 of 3 rows and 3 columns. In this example, the distance between the areas is simply the distance between the centers of the areas. However, in practice, the pattern in the area does not exist uniformly in the area. In the example of FIG. 25R> 5, the area AREA11 has a pattern at the lower right, and the area AREA22 has a pattern at the right end. Therefore, if the exposure influence degree from the surrounding area is determined using the distance between the centers of the areas, the actual exposure influence degree cannot be accurately determined.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to more accurately determine the exposure influence level from the pattern of the surrounding area, the pattern existence area is detected for each area, and between the centroids (or between the centers) of the pattern existence area Use the distance. As described with reference to FIG. 15, each area data includes the lower left coordinates and the upper right coordinate data of the area where the pattern exists in addition to the position coordinates of the area. Therefore, the area where this pattern exists is used as the pattern existing area, and the distance between the centers of gravity of the area is used as the distance between the areas.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a case in which the distance between the pattern existence areas in the area is used. In this example, the areas AREA 11, 12, 13, 21, 22 and the AREAs 23, 33 only have a single pattern, and the areas AREA 32, 13 have a plurality of patterns. Accordingly, in the areas AREA 11 to 22 etc., the pattern itself becomes the pattern existence area PE. Moreover, in AREA 32 and 13, the rectangular area in which a plurality of patterns exist is used as the pattern existence area PE, and the center of gravity of the area is used.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 26, the position of the target area AREA 22 is regarded as the center of gravity position of the pattern (same as the pattern center position), and the distance from the center of gravity of the pattern existing area in each surrounding area is used. Then, the exposure influence degree is calculated and the pattern density is corrected. As a result, the exposure influence level can be detected more accurately, and the pattern density of the area serving as a reference for generating the auxiliary exposure pattern can be generated more accurately.

[Matrix arrangement subfield operations]
The matrix arrangement subfield is generated in a region having only a repetitive pattern such as a memory cell region of an integrated circuit. In this case, the matrix arrangement subfield that is repeatedly generated has a subfield (matrix reference arrangement subfield) serving as a reference at the beginning of the exposure order, and subsequently, a matrix arrangement subfield indicating the address of the same pattern data. Exists. In the vicinity of the matrix-arranged region, single-arranged subfields are adjacent or partially overlap.

  In general, a matrix arrangement subfield generated in a high density region such as a memory cell region has a high density pattern therein. Therefore, it is often unnecessary to generate an auxiliary exposure pattern in such a matrix arrangement subfield.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, if the auxiliary exposure pattern is not generated by performing the operations of steps S13 to S18 in FIG. 5 for the matrix reference arrangement subfield, the subsequent matrix arrangement subfield also generates the auxiliary exposure pattern. If there is no, pattern data is read and calculation is not performed for these matrix arrangement subfields. However, since the pattern density is often low at the boundary portion of the matrix arrangement subfield, pattern data is read in such a region, the pattern density is detected, and an auxiliary exposure pattern is generated as necessary.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of a matrix arrangement subfield when the above example is applicable. In this example, the matrix arrangement subfield MSF is repeatedly arranged in 5 rows and 5 columns. The leading matrix arrangement subfield is a matrix reference arrangement subfield MRSF. Further, the single arrangement subfield SSF is arranged so as to partially overlap around the matrix arrangement subfield. Temporary single placement subfield KSSF is provided in a region matching the single placement subfield (broken line field in the figure).

  In this example, an area is generated in the matrix reference arrangement subfield MRSF, the pattern is read, and the pattern density of the area is obtained in order to minimize the calculation time for generating the auxiliary exposure pattern in consideration of the proximity exposure effect. Then, it is determined whether or not an auxiliary exposure pattern is necessary. In the case of a high-density matrix arrangement subfield, almost no auxiliary exposure pattern is required.

  Therefore, when priority is given to shortening the calculation time even if there is a slight decrease in exposure accuracy, it is calculated whether or not an auxiliary exposure pattern is necessary only for the matrix reference arrangement subfield MRSF. The operations of the remaining matrix arrangement subfields are omitted. The ratio α for reducing the exposure amount of the high pattern density portion is also applied to the remaining matrix arrangement subfields as the ratio α obtained in the matrix reference arrangement subfield MRSF.

  However, in the case of the matrix arrangement subfield, the boundary portion may have a sparse pattern density. Therefore, the pattern data in the area 90 in the figure is read, the pattern density in the area is obtained, and the auxiliary exposure is performed. It is determined whether or not a pattern needs to be generated. The calculation time is shortened by reducing the amount of pattern data to be read. The region 90 is a region at the horizontal boundary portion of the matrix arrangement subfield MSF. Similarly, it is necessary to read the pattern data also at the boundary portion region in the vertical direction of the matrix arrangement subfield MSF.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an electron beam exposure apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of an exposure data creation apparatus 100. FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between main field MF and subfield SF. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the design data concerning the subfield in the main field of FIG. It is a flowchart figure of the exposure process including preparation of exposure data. It is a figure which shows an example of a certain subfield SF. FIG. 7 is an example in which the pattern density Smn for each area of the subfield in the example of FIG. 6 is entered. It is a figure for demonstrating the pattern density review according to the influence by the proximity exposure effect between areas. It is a figure which shows the pattern density in each area after the result of having reviewed the pattern density in an area. It is a figure which shows the example of the correction table used in the correction process of exposure amount, and an auxiliary exposure pattern generation process. It is a figure which shows the subfield at the time of reducing the exposure amount of the pattern of an area with a high pattern density, and generating an auxiliary exposure pattern in an area with a low pattern density. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the produced exposure data. It is a figure which shows the example of the auxiliary exposure pattern generated in the area in the matrix arrangement | positioning subfield MSF. It is the figure which expanded the part of the area | region of area A2 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of area data. It is a figure which shows the matrix arrangement | positioning subfield at the time of newly producing | generating an auxiliary exposure pattern. It is a flowchart figure of auxiliary exposure pattern generation. It is a figure which shows the state by which the auxiliary exposure pattern was produced | generated around the exposure pattern. The example of the ratio table which considered the spreading | diffusion characteristic of the auxiliary exposure pattern is shown. It is a figure which shows the example which made the auxiliary exposure pattern of FIG. 18 the auxiliary exposure pattern which has stepwise exposure amount distribution. It is a figure which shows the exposure amount distribution of the auxiliary exposure pattern of FIG. It is exposure amount distribution along the vertical direction of FIG. It is a figure which shows the auxiliary | assistant exposure pattern generate | occur | produced with respect to the exposure pattern in a subfield. It is a figure which shows the method of detecting the presence area | region of the exposure pattern in a subfield. It is a figure which shows the method to generate | occur | produce the area which matches with the detected pattern presence area. It is a figure which shows detection of the degree of the exposure influence to the area AREA22 in the middle in the areas AREA11 to AREA33 of 3 rows and 3 columns. It is a figure which shows the case where the distance between the pattern presence areas in an area is utilized. It is a figure which shows the example of a matrix arrangement | positioning subfield.

Explanation of symbols

100 exposure data creation device 200 beam control device 300 lens barrel MF main field SF subfield SSF single arrangement subfield MSF matrix arrangement subfield, repeatedly arranged subfield

Claims (3)

In a charged particle beam exposure method for obtaining exposure data having exposure pattern data for each subfield from pattern data having pattern data for a plurality of subfields in a main field, and exposing a sample according to the exposure data,
(A) generating a plurality of areas in the subfield;
(B) obtaining a pattern density in the area, and reexamining the pattern density according to the pattern density of the area around the area and the distance between the areas;
(C) generating an auxiliary exposure pattern in the area when the reviewed pattern density of the area is lower than a predetermined exposure reference density;
(D) exposing the sample according to exposure data obtained by adding the auxiliary exposure pattern data to the pattern data;
When a plurality of subfields having the same pattern data are repeatedly arranged, the steps (a) to (c) are performed on the first subfield of the repeatedly arranged subfield, In the case where no auxiliary exposure pattern is generated, the charged particle beam is characterized in that the steps (a) to (c) are omitted except for the boundary region of the subfield repeatedly arranged with respect to the remaining subfield. Exposure method. In claim 1,
The charged particle beam exposure method, wherein the repetitively arranged subfield is disposed in a memory cell region having a repetitive pattern . In a charged particle beam exposure apparatus for obtaining exposure data having exposure pattern data for each subfield from pattern data having pattern data for each of a plurality of subfields in a main field, and exposing a sample according to the exposure data,
A plurality of areas are generated in the subfield, the pattern density in the area is obtained, the pattern density is reviewed according to the pattern density of the area around the area and the distance between the areas, and the reviewed pattern of the area An exposure data generation unit that generates an auxiliary exposure pattern in the area when the density is lower than a predetermined exposure reference density, and generates exposure data obtained by adding the auxiliary exposure pattern data to the pattern data;
An exposure unit that irradiates the sample with a charged particle beam for exposure according to the exposure data;
When a plurality of subfields having the same pattern data are repeatedly arranged, the exposure data generation unit performs an operation until the generation of the auxiliary exposure pattern for the first subfield of the repeatedly arranged subfield. When the auxiliary exposure pattern does not occur in the first subfield, the calculation is omitted except for the boundary region of the subfield that is repeatedly arranged with respect to the remaining subfield. Exposure device.

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