JP6342738B2 - Data correction apparatus, drawing apparatus, inspection apparatus, data correction method, drawing method, inspection method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for correcting design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object.

  Conventionally, various processes are performed on a substrate in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor substrate, a printed substrate, a glass substrate for a plasma display device or a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter referred to as “substrate”). For example, the wiring pattern is formed on the substrate by etching the substrate on which the resist pattern is formed on the surface. In the etching, the shape of the pattern formed on the substrate may differ from the design data depending on the density of the pattern arrangement and the size of the pattern.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for forming a pattern by forming a resist pattern on a substrate with an electron beam direct drawing apparatus and performing etching with a plasma etching apparatus. In addition, it has been proposed to include processing for correcting a change in pattern size after etching due to a microloading effect in processing for generating electron beam direct drawing data from pattern design data.

  In Patent Document 2, it is proposed to generate resizing rules indicating how design data needs to be corrected in order to obtain a desired post-etched substrate using image data and design data of the substrate after etching. Has been.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a method of designating a correction value for correcting over-etching for each space (distance) between patterns when manufacturing a photomask. Moreover, when a linear pattern and a circular arc pattern oppose, it is proposed to add the further correction | amendment to the said opposing part.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a technique for setting a correction value based on a distance between adjacent outline shapes when creating an outline shape (outer shape of a conductor pattern) from the design data of the conductor pattern in consideration of side etching. Has been.

  Patent Document 5 relates to a defect inspection of a wiring pattern formed by etching. In the defect inspection, etching information (etching curve) is measured from a measurement pattern formed on the surface of the substrate, and inspection data is generated by performing etching simulation on design data using the etching curve. And the defect of a wiring pattern is detected by collating the image data and inspection data of the wiring pattern on a board | substrate. Patent Document 5 proposes that one measurement pattern is arranged in each of a plurality of inspection areas set on the upper surface of a printed circuit board, and an etching curve for each inspection area is acquired. The inspection area includes a plurality of identical individual patterns, and the plurality of individual patterns are similarly corrected based on the etching curve for the inspection area.

Japanese Patent No. 3074675 Japanese Patent No. 4274784 JP 2008-134512 A JP 2013-12562 A JP2013-250101A

  In recent years, in an apparatus for performing etching on a substrate, in order to improve productivity, etching is performed on a large substrate on which many identical pieces (patterns) are arranged. For this reason, the etching characteristics differ depending on the position on the substrate, and the etching result may differ even when etching is performed on the same piece.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to accurately perform etching correction in consideration of a difference in etching characteristics depending on a position on an object.

The invention according to claim 1 is a data correction apparatus for correcting design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object, and stores design data of a pattern formed by etching on the object. The relationship between the storage unit, the gap width between graphic elements included in the pattern, and the etching amount, which is the amount by which the graphic elements on the object are excessively etched, is used as an etching characteristic. An etching characteristic storage unit that stores a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to each of the reference positions, and each of the divided areas and the plurality of reference positions for each of the plurality of divided areas set on the object Based on the relationship, the plurality of etching characteristics are weighted, and the weighting is performed on the basis of the plurality of etching characteristics. A region etching characteristic acquisition unit for obtaining a region etching characteristic that is an etching characteristic of each of the divided regions; and dividing the design data into a plurality of divided data corresponding to the plurality of divided regions; A divided data correction unit that performs correction based on the region etching characteristics of the divided regions corresponding to data.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the data correction apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the division patterns indicated by the plurality of division data of the design data are the same.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the data correction device according to the second aspect, when the plurality of divided data includes two or more pieces of divided data having the same corresponding region etching characteristics , The divided data correction unit corrects one divided data included in the two or more divided data, and the correction result of the one divided data is another divided data included in the two or more divided data. The data is also used as a correction result by the divided data correction unit .

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the data correction device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein weighting of the plurality of etching characteristics by the region etching characteristic acquisition unit corresponds to each etching characteristic. Each etching characteristic is multiplied by a weighting factor based on the distance between the reference position and the divided area, and the etching characteristic corresponding to one reference position closest to each of the divided areas among the plurality of etching characteristics is obtained. weight coefficient to be multiplied is 1, the weighting factor to be multiplied to the etching characteristics of the non-pre disappeared etching characteristics is zero.

  The invention according to claim 5 is a drawing device for drawing a pattern on an object, and is corrected by the data correction device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the light source, and the data correction device. An optical modulation unit that modulates light from the light source based on design data, and a scanning mechanism that scans light modulated by the optical modulation unit on an object.

The invention described in claim 6 is an inspection apparatus for inspecting a pattern formed by etching on an object, and the data correction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and etching on the object. An actual image storage unit that stores inspection image data that is image data of the formed pattern, design data that is corrected by the data correction device according to the line width and size after actual etching, and the inspection image data; And a defect detection unit that detects defects of the pattern formed on the object.

The invention according to claim 7 is a data correction method for correcting design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object, and a) preparing design data of a pattern formed by etching on the object. And b) a gap width between graphic elements included in the pattern and an etching amount, which is an amount by which the graphic elements on the object are excessively etched, as etching characteristics . A step of preparing a plurality of etching characteristics respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference positions; c) a position of each of the divided areas and the plurality of reference positions for each of the plurality of divided areas set on the object. Weighting the plurality of etching characteristics based on the relationship, and then dividing each of the divided areas based on the plurality of etching characteristics weighted. And d) dividing the design data into a plurality of divided data corresponding to the plurality of divided regions, and dividing each divided data into the respective divided data corresponding to the divided data. And correcting based on the region etching characteristics of the region.

The invention according to claim 8 is the data correction method according to claim 7, wherein in the step a), the design data having the same division pattern indicated by each of the plurality of division data is prepared .

  The invention according to claim 9 is the data correction method according to claim 8, wherein, in the step d), the plurality of divided data includes two or more divisions having the same corresponding region etching characteristics. When data is included, correction of one divided data among the two or more divided data is performed, and the correction result of the one divided data is also used as the correction result of the other divided data.

A tenth aspect of the present invention is the data correction method according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, wherein the weighting to the plurality of etching characteristics in the step c) is a reference position corresponding to each etching characteristic. Each etching characteristic is multiplied by a weighting factor based on the distance between the divided area and the etching characteristic corresponding to one reference position closest to each of the divided areas. that the weighting factor is 1, the weighting factor to be multiplied to the etching characteristics of the non-pre disappeared etching characteristics is zero.

  The invention according to claim 11 is a drawing method for drawing a pattern on an object, the step of correcting design data by the data correction method according to claim 7, and the corrected Scanning light modulated on the basis of the design data on the object.

The invention according to claim 12 is an inspection method for inspecting a pattern formed by etching on an object, the step of correcting design data by the data correction method according to any one of claims 7 to 10; , by comparing pairs and inspection image data is image data of the pattern formed by etching on the elephant was the actual said design data corrected in accordance with the line width and the magnitude of the post-etch, the target And detecting a defect of the pattern formed on the object.

The invention according to claim 13 is a program for correcting design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object, and the execution of the program by the computer is performed on the computer by a) etching on the object. A step of preparing design data of a pattern to be formed; and b) a relationship between a gap width between graphic elements included in the pattern and an etching amount which is an amount by which the graphic elements on the object are excessively etched. as an etching characteristic, a step of preparing a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to a plurality of reference position on the object, c) for each of the plurality of divided areas set on said object, and each divided region The weighting is performed on the plurality of etching characteristics based on the positional relationship with the plurality of reference positions. Obtaining a region etching characteristic that is an etching characteristic of each of the divided regions based on the plurality of etching characteristics injured; and d) dividing the design data into a plurality of divided data corresponding to the plurality of divided regions. And correcting each divided data based on the region etching characteristics of the divided regions corresponding to the divided data.

  In the present invention, etching correction can be performed with high accuracy in consideration of the difference in etching characteristics depending on the position on the object.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the drawing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a data processor. It is a block diagram which shows the function of a data processor. It is a top view of a board | substrate. It is a figure which expands and shows a part of pattern for characteristic acquisition. It is a figure which expands and shows a part of measurement pattern. It is a figure which shows an etching curve. It is a figure which shows the flow of drawing by a drawing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the function of the inspection apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the flow of the test | inspection by an inspection apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a drawing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The drawing apparatus 1 irradiates light onto a resist film which is a photosensitive material provided on the surface of a printed circuit board, a semiconductor substrate, a liquid crystal substrate or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate 9”), whereby a circuit is formed on the resist film. This is a direct drawing device that directly draws an image such as a pattern. The substrate 9 on which the pattern is drawn by the drawing apparatus 1 is etched in a substrate processing apparatus or the like (not shown). As a result, a pattern is formed on the substrate 9. Etching for the substrate 9 is, for example, wet etching performed by applying an etchant to the substrate 9. In addition, as the etching with respect to the substrate 9, for example, dry etching using plasma or the like may be performed.

  The drawing apparatus 1 includes a data processing device 2 and an exposure device 3. The data processing device 2 corrects the design data of the pattern drawn on the substrate 9 and generates drawing data. The exposure apparatus 3 performs drawing (that is, exposure) on the substrate 9 based on the drawing data sent from the data processing apparatus 2. The data processing device 2 and the exposure device 3 may be provided integrally as long as data can be exchanged between the two devices, or may be physically separated.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the data processing device 2. The data processing device 2 has a general computer system configuration including a CPU 201 that performs various arithmetic processes, a ROM 202 that stores basic programs, and a RAM 203 that stores various information. The data processing apparatus 2 includes a fixed disk 204 that stores information, a display 205 that displays various information such as images, a keyboard 206a and a mouse 206b that receive input from an operator, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, and a magneto-optical disk. And a reading / writing device 207 that reads and writes information from the computer-readable storage medium 8 and a communication unit 208 that transmits and receives signals to and from other components of the drawing device 1.

  In the data processing device 2, the program 80 is read from the storage medium 8 via the reading / writing device 207 in advance and stored in the fixed disk 204. The CPU 201 executes arithmetic processing using the RAM 203 and the fixed disk 204 according to the program 80. The function of the data processing device 2 may be realized by a dedicated electrical circuit, or a dedicated electrical circuit may be partially used.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the data processing device 2. FIG. 3 also shows a part of the configuration of the exposure apparatus 3 connected to the data processing apparatus 2. The data processing device 2 includes a data correction unit 21 and a data conversion unit 22. The data correction unit 21 corrects design data of a pattern formed on the substrate 9 by etching. The data correction unit 21 includes a design data storage unit 211, an etching characteristic storage unit 212, a region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213, and a divided data correction unit 214. The data conversion unit 22 receives design data corrected by the data correction unit 21 (hereinafter referred to as “corrected data”). The corrected data is usually vector data such as polygons. The data converter 22 converts corrected data that is vector data into drawing data that is raster data.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the exposure apparatus 3 includes a drawing controller 31, a stage 32, a light emitting unit 33, and a scanning mechanism 35. The drawing controller 31 controls the light emitting unit 33 and the scanning mechanism 35. The stage 32 holds the substrate 9 below the light emitting unit 33. The light emitting unit 33 includes a light source 331 and a light modulating unit 332. The light source 331 emits laser light toward the light modulation unit 332. The light modulator 332 modulates light from the light source 331. The light modulated by the light modulation unit 332 is irradiated onto the substrate 9 on the stage 32. As the light modulation unit 332, for example, a DMD (digital mirror device) is used.

  The scanning mechanism 35 moves the stage 32 in the horizontal direction. Specifically, the stage 32 is moved by the scanning mechanism 35 in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction. As a result, the light modulated by the light modulator 332 is scanned on the substrate 9 in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. In the exposure apparatus 3, a rotation mechanism that rotates the stage 32 horizontally may be provided. In addition, an elevating mechanism that moves the light emitting unit 33 in the vertical direction may be provided. The scanning mechanism 35 is not necessarily a mechanism that moves the stage 32 as long as the light from the light emitting unit 33 can be scanned on the substrate 9. For example, the light emitting unit 33 may be moved above the stage 32 by the scanning mechanism 35 in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the substrate 9 on which the pattern 93 is drawn by the exposure apparatus 3. The substrate 9 has a substantially rectangular shape. The pattern 93 includes a plurality of pieces 94 arranged in a matrix (that is, multifaceted). Each of the plurality of pieces 94 is a pattern element constituting the pattern 93, and the pattern 93 is a pattern element group that is a set of a plurality of pattern elements. In FIG. 4, the piece 94 is indicated by a rectangle.

  Actually, each of the plurality of pieces 94 is a drawing pattern that is scheduled to become one independent wiring pattern after various processes such as etching. A rectangle indicating the piece 94 in FIG. 4 is a minimum rectangle including the entire actual drawing pattern corresponding to the piece 94. In the example shown in FIG. 4, 64 pieces 94 are arranged on the substrate 9. Specifically, eight pieces 94 are arranged vertically and horizontally along two adjacent sides of the substrate 9 (that is, along the x and y directions in the figure). The 64 pieces 94 have the same drawing pattern.

  On the substrate 9, a plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 are drawn in addition to the plurality of pieces 94. In FIG. 4, the characteristic acquisition pattern 95 is indicated by a rectangle smaller than the piece 94. Actually, each of the plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 is a drawing pattern that is to be a measurement pattern for finally measuring etching characteristics through various processes such as etching. In FIG. 4, the rectangle indicating the characteristic acquisition pattern 95 is the smallest rectangle including the entire actual drawing pattern corresponding to the characteristic acquisition pattern 95. In the example shown in FIG. 4, four characteristic acquisition patterns 95 are arranged in the vicinity of the four corners of the substrate 9. Each characteristic acquisition pattern 95 is arranged outside a substantially rectangular region connecting the outermost edges of the 64 pieces 94 (that is, the smallest substantially rectangular region including all 64 pieces 94).

  In the following description, the plurality of positions where the plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 are arranged on the substrate 9 are referred to as “reference positions”. A plurality of positions where the plurality of pieces 94 are arranged on the substrate 9 are referred to as “pattern element positions”. The reference position and the pattern element position are, for example, the center coordinates of the characteristic acquisition pattern 95 and the piece 94, respectively. The reference position and the pattern element position may be, for example, one corner of each of the characteristic acquisition pattern 95 and the piece 94.

  FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing a part of the characteristic acquisition pattern 95. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the characteristic acquisition pattern 95 includes a plurality of first graphic element groups 951. Each first graphic element group 951 includes two substantially linear first graphic elements 952 extending in the y direction in parallel with each other. The gap G between the two first graphic elements 952 in each first graphic element group 951 (that is, the interval in the x direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the two first graphic elements 952) is the other first graphic element. It is different from the gap G between the two first graphic elements 952 in the group 951.

  On the substrate 9, a plurality of measurement patterns corresponding to the plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 are formed almost simultaneously with a plurality of wiring patterns corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94 by processing such as etching and resist removal after the etching.

  FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a part of the measurement pattern 96 corresponding to the characteristic acquisition pattern 95. The measurement pattern 96 includes a plurality of second graphic element groups 953 corresponding to the plurality of first graphic element groups 951. In FIG. 6, one second graphic element group 953 is shown enlarged. Each second graphic element group 953 includes two substantially linear second graphic elements 954 corresponding to the two first graphic elements 952. The second graphic element 954 is the first graphic element 952 after being etched. In FIG. 6, the outline of the first graphic element 952 is also shown by a two-dot chain line.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the etching amount Et which is the difference between the contour line of the first graphic element 952 and the contour line of the second graphic element 954 (that is, in the x direction parallel to the gap G between the first graphic elements 952). The distance between the two contour lines) changes as the gap G changes. The relationship between the gap G and the etching amount Et is such that the test substrate on which the pattern 93 and the plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 are drawn by the exposure apparatus 3 is subjected to processing such as etching and resist film removal, and then the measurement pattern 96 is measured. And the design data of the characteristic acquisition pattern 95 are acquired.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an etching curve Ec showing the relationship between the gap G and the etching amount Et. As shown in FIG. 7, in the etching curve Ec, the etching amount Et gradually decreases as the gap G decreases. In a range where the gap G is large to some extent, the etching amount Et is approximately directly proportional to the gap G. However, when the gap G becomes small, the etching amount Et rapidly decreases as the gap G decreases. In other words, as the gap G becomes smaller, the inclination of the etching curve Ec becomes larger.

  Since the plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 have different positions on the substrate 9 (that is, reference positions), the etching curves Ec may be different from each other. Therefore, a plurality of etching curves Ec respectively corresponding to the plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 (that is, respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference positions) are acquired.

  The characteristic acquisition pattern 95 may include graphic elements of various shapes other than the plurality of first graphic element groups 951 and graphic element groups of various combinations. For example, a plurality of circular graphic elements having different diameters may be included in the characteristic acquisition pattern 95, and an etching curve indicating the relationship between the diameter of the circular graphic element and the etching amount may be acquired. As for the etching curve, a plurality of etching curves respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference positions are acquired.

  In the drawing apparatus 1, one or more etching curves corresponding to each reference position are stored in the above-described etching characteristic storage unit 212. When one or a plurality of etching curves corresponding to one reference position are collectively referred to as “etching characteristics”, the etching characteristic storage unit 212 stores a plurality of etching characteristics respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference positions on the substrate 9. To do.

  Next, the flow of drawing by the drawing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the drawing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, first, design data of a pattern 93 (see FIG. 4) to be formed on the substrate 9 by etching is input to the data correction unit 21 of the data processing apparatus 2 shown in FIG. The data is prepared by being stored in the design data storage unit 211 (step S11).

  Subsequently, as described above, a plurality of etching characteristics respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference positions on the substrate 9 (four reference positions in the example shown in FIG. 4) are transferred to the data correction unit 21 of the data processing apparatus 2. It is prepared by being inputted and stored in the etching characteristic storage unit 212 (step S12). The plurality of etching characteristics may be acquired by an apparatus other than the drawing apparatus 1 or may be acquired by the drawing apparatus 1. When the etching apparatus 1 acquires etching characteristics, the drawing apparatus 1 includes an imaging unit that acquires an image of the measurement pattern 96 (see FIG. 6), and an image of the measurement pattern 96 and a characteristic acquisition pattern 95 (see FIG. 6). 5), an etching characteristic acquisition unit that acquires the etching characteristic at each reference position is provided.

  Next, the region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 shown in FIG. 3 uses the region etching characteristic that is an etching characteristic of each piece 94 based on a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to a plurality of reference positions for each of the plurality of pieces 94. Is obtained (step S13). The area etching characteristics are weighted after weighting a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to a plurality of reference positions based on the positional relationship between the pattern element position of each piece 94 and the plurality of reference positions. Further, it is obtained based on a plurality of etching characteristics.

  The plurality of etching characteristics are weighted by the region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 by, for example, multiplying each etching characteristic by a weighting factor based on the distance between the reference position corresponding to each etching characteristic and the pattern element position of the piece 94. Is implemented.

  The region etching characteristics are obtained while weighting the plurality of etching characteristics by, for example, a bilinear interpolation method using the pattern element position of the piece 94 and a plurality of reference positions. In this case, first, based on the distance in the x direction between the pattern element position of the piece 94 and the two reference positions on the (+ y) side, the etching curves Ec at the two reference positions on the (+ y) side are linear. By performing the interpolation, a first interpolation etching curve is obtained. Specifically, for example, the distance in the x direction between one of the two reference positions and the pattern element position is set as d1, and the distance in the x direction between the other reference position and the pattern element position. Is d2, (d2 / (d1 + d2)) is multiplied by the etching curve Ec at the one reference position as a weighting factor, and (d1 / (d1 + d2)) is multiplied by the etching curve Ec at the other reference position as the weighting factor. After the multiplication, the first interpolation etching curve is obtained by adding the multiplication results for the two etching curves Ec.

  Similarly, based on the distances in the x direction between the pattern element positions of the piece 94 and the two reference positions on the (−y) side, the etching curves Ec at the two reference positions on the (−y) side are linear. A second interpolation etching curve is obtained by interpolation. Specifically, for example, the distance in the x direction between one of the two reference positions and the pattern element position is d3, and the distance in the x direction between the other reference position and the pattern element position. Is d4, (d4 / (d3 + d4)) is multiplied by the etching curve Ec at the one reference position as a weighting factor, and (d3 / (d3 + d4)) is multiplied by the etching curve Ec at the other reference position as the weighting factor. After multiplication, the multiplication result for the two etching curves Ec is added to obtain a second interpolation etching curve.

  Then, based on the respective distances in the y direction between the pattern element position of the piece 94 and the two reference positions on the (−x) side or the (+ x) side, the first interpolation etching curve and the second interpolation etching are performed. A region etching curve is obtained by linearly interpolating the curve. Specifically, for example, the distance in the y direction between the reference position on the (+ y) side of the two reference positions and the pattern element position is d5, and the reference position of the (−y) and the pattern element position are When the distance in the y direction is d6, (d6 / (d5 + d6)) is multiplied by the first interpolation etching curve as a weighting factor, and (d5 / (d5 + d6)) is multiplied by the second interpolation etching curve as the weighting factor. After the multiplication, the region etching curve is obtained by adding the multiplication results for the two interpolation etching curves (that is, based on the plurality of weighted etching curves Ec).

  The area etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 obtains the area etching characteristics by acquiring the area etching curves for all the etching curves included in the etching characteristics in the same manner as described above.

  When the area etching characteristics of each piece 94 are obtained, the divided data correction unit 214 extracts a plurality of pieces of divided data respectively corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94 from the design data of the pattern 93. In other words, the design data of the pattern 93 is divided into a plurality of divided data respectively corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94. Then, each divided data is corrected by the divided data correction unit 214 based on the region etching characteristics of each piece 94 corresponding to each divided data, thereby obtaining corrected divided data for each piece 94 (step). S14).

  Specifically, in consideration of the fact that each piece 94 is subjected to an excessive etching (that is, more than a desired amount) corresponding to the etching amount indicated by the region etching characteristics of the piece 94 in actual etching, Correction is performed so that the line width of the graphic element of each divided data is increased or the graphic element is enlarged so that the graphic element included in each piece 94 has a desired line width and size.

  Here, when the plurality of pieces 94 are referred to as a plurality of divided regions set on the substrate 9, in step S <b> 13, the region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 determines each divided region and each of the plurality of divided regions. After weighting a plurality of etching characteristics based on the respective positional relationships with a plurality of reference positions, a region etching characteristic that is an etching characteristic of each divided region is obtained based on the plurality of weighted etching characteristics. It is done. The region etching characteristics of each divided region may be obtained by various methods other than the bilinear interpolation method described above.

  In step S14, the divided data correction unit 214 divides the design data of the pattern 93 into a plurality of divided data respectively corresponding to a plurality of divided regions. Then, each divided data is corrected based on the area etching characteristics of each divided area corresponding to each divided data (that is, by performing etching correction for each divided data), and thereby each of the divided areas is provided. A plurality of corresponding corrected divided data is acquired. As described above, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the drawing patterns (hereinafter referred to as “divided patterns”) indicated by the plurality of divided data of the design data are the same. On the other hand, in the above-described example, since the region etching characteristics of the plurality of divided regions are different from each other, even if the plurality of divided data are the same, the plurality of corrected divided data are different from each other.

  The divided data correction unit 214 generates the corrected data by collecting the plurality of corrected divided data. The corrected data is sent from the data correction unit 21 to the data conversion unit 22. Then, the data conversion unit 22 converts the corrected data that is vector data into drawing data that is raster data (step S15).

  The drawing data is sent from the data converter 22 to the drawing controller 31 of the exposure apparatus 3. In the exposure apparatus 3, drawing on the substrate 9 is performed by controlling the light modulation unit 332 and the scanning mechanism 35 of the light emitting unit 33 by the drawing controller 31 based on the drawing data from the data processing device 2 (step S <b> 3). S16).

  As described above, the data correction unit 21 of the data processing apparatus 2 includes the design data storage unit 211 that stores the design data of the pattern 93 formed by etching on the substrate 9 and the plurality of reference positions of the substrate 9. An etching characteristic storage unit 212 that stores a plurality of corresponding etching characteristics, and a plurality of divided areas set on the substrate 9, based on a positional relationship between each divided area and a plurality of reference positions. A region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 that obtains a region etching characteristic of each divided region based on a plurality of weighted etching properties after weighting the etching characteristics of the region, and corresponding the design data to a plurality of divided regions Divide the data into a plurality of divided data, and divide each divided data into area etching characteristics of each divided area corresponding to each divided data. Based and a divided data correction unit 214 to correct.

  Thereby, when correcting the division pattern drawn in the plurality of divided areas on the substrate 9 (that is, the piece 94 which is the drawing pattern indicated by the divided data), the etching due to the difference in position of the divided areas on the substrate 9 is performed. In consideration of the difference in characteristics, etching correction for each divided data can be performed with high accuracy. Further, as described above, since the division patterns indicated by the plurality of division data of the design data are the same, the division data correction unit 214 can easily perform etching correction of the plurality of division data.

  As described above, the data correction unit 21 can accurately perform etching correction on each division data of the design data. Therefore, in the drawing apparatus 1 provided with the data correction unit 21, the position of each division region on the substrate 9. A plurality of division patterns in which the difference in etching characteristics due to the difference is taken into account can be drawn on the substrate 9 with high accuracy.

  In the above-described example, the case where the plurality of pieces 94 (that is, the plurality of divided regions) have different region etching characteristics has been described. However, the plurality of pieces 94 include two or more pieces 94 having the same region etching characteristics. It may be included. In other words, the plurality of pieces of divided data corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94 may include two or more pieces of divided data having the same corresponding region etching characteristics. For example, when the two etching characteristics acquired from the two characteristics acquisition patterns 95 on the (+ y) side in FIG. 4 are substantially the same, the most (+ y) of the plurality of pieces 94 arranged in a matrix. In the two pieces 94 adjacent in the x direction in the side row, the region etching characteristics are substantially the same.

  As described above, when the plurality of pieces of divided data corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94 include two or more pieces of divided data having the same corresponding region etching characteristics, in step S14 described above, the two or more pieces of divided data are processed. The divided data correction unit 214 corrects one divided data, and the corrected divided data that is the correction result of the one divided data is also used as the correction result of the other divided data by the divided data correction unit 214. The

  More specifically, in step S14, the corrected division data is obtained by performing the etching correction based on the region etching characteristics on only one division data among the two or more division data. Etching correction is not performed on the other divided data of the two or more divided data. Then, the corrected divided data of the one divided data is used as corrected divided data of the other divided data, and corrected data is generated in the data correction unit 21.

  In the corrected data, the corrected divided patterns indicated by the corrected divided data are respectively arranged in two or more pieces 94 corresponding to the two or more divided data. Alternatively, in the corrected data, the corrected division pattern is arranged only in one piece 94 among the two or more pieces 94 corresponding to the two or more division data, and the other piece 94 is the one piece. Only information indicating that the same division pattern as that arranged in the line 94 is arranged may be included. In this case, raster data similar to the divided pattern raster data arranged in the one piece 94 is arranged in the other piece 94 when the data conversion unit 22 converts the corrected data.

  As described above, in the data correction unit 21 of the data processing device 2, one divided data is corrected by the divided data correction unit 214 for two or more pieces of divided data having substantially the same region etching characteristics. The correction result of one divided data is also used as the correction result of other divided data. Thereby, the time required for etching correction of a plurality of divided data by the divided data correction unit 214 can be shortened.

  In the above example, the region etching characteristics are obtained by the bilinear interpolation method using the pattern element position of the piece 94 and a plurality of reference positions, but may be obtained by various other methods. For example, the plurality of etching characteristics are weighted by the region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 according to the distance between the reference position corresponding to each etching characteristic and the pattern element position of the piece 94, as in the bilinear interpolation method described above. Although it is implemented by multiplying each etching characteristic by a weighting factor based on it, the determination method of the weighting factor may be changed. As an example, an etching characteristic corresponding to one reference position closest to the piece 94 is multiplied by a weight coefficient “1”, and an etching characteristic corresponding to another reference position is multiplied by a weight coefficient “0”. As described above, when the weighting coefficient multiplied by one etching characteristic among the plurality of etching characteristics is 1 and the weighting coefficient multiplied by etching characteristics other than the one etching characteristic is 0, the divided data correction unit Etching correction of a plurality of division data by 214 can be facilitated.

  Next, an inspection apparatus 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The inspection apparatus 1 a is an apparatus that inspects a pattern drawn on the substrate 9. In the inspection apparatus 1a, a pattern on the substrate 9 is compared with design data corrected by etching, which will be described later. The inspection device 1a has a general computer system configuration, similar to the data processing device 2 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the inspection apparatus 1a. The inspection apparatus 1a includes a data correction unit 21a, an actual image recording unit 25, and a defect detection unit 26. Similar to the data correction unit 21 shown in FIG. 3, the data correction unit 21 a includes a design data storage unit 211, an etching characteristic storage unit 212, a region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213, and a divided data correction unit 214. The actual image recording unit 25 stores inspection image data that is image data of a pattern drawn on the substrate 9. The defect detection unit 26 detects a defect of the pattern drawn on the substrate 9.

  Next, the flow of inspection by the inspection apparatus 1a will be described with reference to FIG. In the inspection apparatus 1a, first, as in step S11 shown in FIG. 8, design data of a pattern 93 (see FIG. 4) to be formed on the substrate 9 by etching is input to the data correction unit 21a, and the design data It is prepared by being stored in the storage unit 211 (step S21).

  Subsequently, similarly to step S12, a plurality of etching characteristics respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference positions on the substrate 9 are input to the data correction unit 21a and stored in the etching characteristic storage unit 212 (see FIG. Step S22). The plurality of etching characteristics may be acquired by an apparatus other than the inspection apparatus 1a, or may be acquired by the inspection apparatus 1a. When the etching apparatus 1a acquires etching characteristics, the inspection apparatus 1a includes an imaging unit that acquires an image of the measurement pattern 96 (see FIG. 6), and an image of the measurement pattern 96 and a characteristic acquisition pattern 95 (see FIG. 6). 4), an etching characteristic acquisition unit that acquires etching characteristics at each reference position is provided.

  Next, similarly to step S13, the region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 uses the plurality of pieces 94 that are divided regions (see FIG. 4) based on a plurality of etching characteristics respectively corresponding to a plurality of reference positions. A region etching characteristic which is an etching characteristic in each piece 94 is obtained (step S23). The area etching characteristics are weighted after weighting a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to a plurality of reference positions based on the positional relationship between the pattern element position of each piece 94 and the plurality of reference positions. Further, it is obtained based on a plurality of etching characteristics.

  For example, as described above, the plurality of etching characteristics are weighted by the region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213 using a weighting factor based on the distance between the reference position corresponding to each etching characteristic and the pattern element position of the piece 94. Is performed by multiplying by. For example, as described above, the region etching characteristics are obtained while weighting the plurality of etching characteristics by bilinear interpolation using the pattern element positions of the piece 94 and the plurality of reference positions. The region etching characteristics of the plurality of pieces 94 (that is, the plurality of divided regions) are different from each other.

  When the area etching characteristics of each piece 94 are obtained, similarly to step S14, the divided data correction unit 214 performs a plurality of pieces of divided data respectively corresponding to a plurality of pieces 94 (that is, divided areas) from the design data of the pattern 93. Is extracted. In other words, the design data of the pattern 93 is divided into a plurality of divided data respectively corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94. Then, each divided data is corrected by the divided data correction unit 214 based on the area etching characteristics of each piece 94 corresponding to each divided data (that is, corrected for etching), thereby correcting each piece 94. Already divided data is obtained (step S24).

  Specifically, in each piece 94, the graphic elements included in each piece 94 are considered in consideration that excessive etching corresponding to the etching amount indicated by the region etching characteristics of the piece 94 is performed at the time of actual etching. Is corrected so that the line width of the graphic element of each divided data is reduced or the graphic element is reduced so that the actual line width and size after etching are obtained. In other words, the correction opposite to the correction performed on each divided data in step S14 is performed on each divided data.

  In the divided data correction unit 214, corrected data that is design data of the corrected pattern 93 is generated by collecting a plurality of corrected divided data corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94. The corrected data is sent from the data correction unit 21 to the defect detection unit 26.

  Subsequently, image data of a pattern (hereinafter referred to as “etching pattern”) drawn on the substrate 9 and etched based on the design data of the pattern 93 before correction is acquired, and the image data is obtained as an inspection image. It is prepared by being stored in the actual image recording unit 25 as data (step S25). Step S25 may be performed in parallel with steps S21 to S24, or may be performed before steps S21 to S24. The said inspection image data may be acquired in apparatuses other than the inspection apparatus 1a, and may be acquired in the inspection apparatus 1a. When the inspection image data is acquired in the inspection apparatus 1a, the inspection apparatus 1a is provided with an imaging unit that acquires the inspection image data. In step S22, when the image of the measurement pattern 96 is acquired by the inspection apparatus 1a, it is preferable that the inspection image data is also acquired by the inspection apparatus 1a.

  The inspection image data is sent from the actual image recording unit 25 to the defect detection unit 26. In the defect detection unit 26, the inspection image data is compared with the corrected data sent from the data correction unit 21a (that is, the design data corrected by etching by the data correction unit 21a) on the substrate 9. A defect in the formed etching pattern is detected (step S26). As described above, in the corrected data, correction is performed so that the graphic element of each piece 94 has the line width and size after the actual etching. A difference from the corrected data is detected as a defect in the etching pattern on the substrate 9.

  As in the data correction unit 21 shown in FIG. 3, the data correction unit 21a corrects a division pattern drawn in a plurality of division regions on the substrate 9 (that is, a piece 94 that is a drawing pattern indicated by the division data). In addition, the etching correction for each divided data can be performed with high accuracy in consideration of the difference in etching characteristics due to the difference in position of each divided region on the substrate 9. Therefore, the inspection apparatus 1a can inspect a plurality of division patterns drawn on the substrate 9 with high accuracy in consideration of the difference in etching characteristics due to the difference in position of each division region on the substrate 9. .

  Similar to the first embodiment, the plurality of pieces of divided data corresponding to the plurality of pieces 94 may include two or more pieces of divided data having the same corresponding region etching characteristics. In this case, in step S24 described above, the divided data correction unit 214 corrects one divided data for the two or more divided data, and the corrected divided data that is the correction result of the one divided data is It is also used as a correction result of other divided data by the divided data correction unit 214. Thereby, the time required for etching correction of a plurality of divided data by the divided data correction unit 214 can be shortened.

  Further, as the weighting to the plurality of etching characteristics by the region etching characteristic acquisition unit 213, the etching characteristic corresponding to one reference position closest to the piece 94 is multiplied by the weight coefficient “1”, and the etching corresponding to the other reference position is performed. The characteristic may be multiplied by a weighting factor “0”. As described above, when the weighting coefficient multiplied by one etching characteristic among the plurality of etching characteristics is 1 and the weighting coefficient multiplied by etching characteristics other than the one etching characteristic is 0, the divided data correction unit Etching correction of a plurality of division data by 214 can be facilitated.

  Various changes can be made in the drawing apparatus 1 and the inspection apparatus 1a.

  For example, in the drawing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, step S11 and steps S12 and S13 may be performed in parallel, and steps S12 and S13 may be performed before step S11.

  The arrangement and number of the plurality of pieces 94 on the substrate 9 are not limited to those shown in FIG. 4 and may be changed as appropriate. Similarly, the arrangement and number of the plurality of characteristic acquisition patterns 95 on the substrate 9 may be appropriately changed. The characteristic acquisition pattern 95 is not necessarily arranged in the vicinity of the corner of the substrate 9, and may be arranged between the adjacent pieces 94, for example. The acquisition of each region etching characteristic does not necessarily have to be performed based on the etching characteristics corresponding to all the characteristic acquisition patterns 95 on the substrate 9, and a part of all the characteristic acquisition patterns 95 on the substrate 9. The etching may be performed based on the etching characteristics corresponding to the characteristic acquisition pattern 95.

  The pattern 93 on the substrate 9 is not necessarily provided with a plurality of pieces 94, and may be, for example, a pattern scheduled to be one large wiring pattern. When the design data of one pattern is divided into a plurality of divided data, it is preferable that adjacent divided data is divided so as to partially overlap in the adjacent portion. As a result, when the inspection apparatus 1a performs etching correction on the divided data, the wiring extending over the divided area corresponding to the divided data and the adjacent divided area is contrary to the intention in the vicinity of the boundary between the two divided areas. Can be prevented from becoming discontinuous.

  The drawing apparatus 1 may be used for drawing a pattern on various objects other than the substrate 9. The inspection apparatus 1a may also be used for inspection of patterns formed by etching on various objects other than the substrate 9. The data correction units 21 and 21a may be used as a data correction device independent of the drawing device 1 and the inspection device 1a. The data correction apparatus may be used for correcting design data of patterns formed by etching on various objects other than the substrate 9.

  The configurations in the above-described embodiments and modifications may be combined as appropriate as long as they do not contradict each other.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drawing apparatus 1a Inspection apparatus 9 Board | substrate 21, 21a Data correction part 25 Real image recording part 26 Defect detection part 80 Program 93 Pattern 94 Piece 211 Design data storage part 212 Etching characteristic storage part 213 Area etching characteristic acquisition part 214 Divided data correction part 331 Light source 332 Light modulator S11 to S16, S21 to S26 Step

Claims (13)

A data correction apparatus for correcting design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object,
A design data storage unit for storing design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object;
The relationship between the gap width between graphic elements included in the pattern and the etching amount, which is the amount by which the graphic elements on the object are excessively etched, is used as an etching characteristic at a plurality of reference positions on the object. An etching characteristic storage unit for storing a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to each;
For each of the plurality of divided regions set on the object, the plurality of etching characteristics are weighted based on the positional relationship between each divided region and the plurality of reference positions, and the weighting is performed. A region etching characteristic acquisition unit for obtaining a region etching characteristic which is an etching characteristic of each of the divided regions based on the plurality of etching characteristics which are broken
A divided data correction unit that divides the design data into a plurality of divided data corresponding to the plurality of divided areas, and corrects each divided data based on the area etching characteristics of the divided areas corresponding to the divided data. When,
A data correction apparatus comprising: The data correction apparatus according to claim 1,
2. A data correction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the division patterns indicated by the plurality of division data of the design data are the same. The data correction device according to claim 2,
The plurality of divided data, when the corresponding said regions etching characteristics includes two or more divided data is the same, the pre-Symbol divided data correction unit, one of the divided data included in the two or more divided data Data in which correction is performed, and the correction result of the one divided data is also used as a correction result of the other divided data included in the two or more divided data by the divided data correction unit Correction device. The data correction device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Weighting the plurality of etching characteristics by the region etching characteristic acquisition unit is to multiply each etching characteristic by a weighting factor based on a distance between a reference position corresponding to each etching characteristic and a divided region,
Among the plurality of etching characteristics, the weighting coefficient multiplied to the etching characteristics corresponding to the closest one of the reference position to the each divided area is 1, the weighting factor to be multiplied to the etching characteristics of the non-pre disappeared etching characteristics Is a data correction device characterized by zero. A drawing device for drawing a pattern on an object,
A data correction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A light source;
A light modulation unit that modulates light from the light source based on design data corrected by the data correction device;
A scanning mechanism that scans on the object the light modulated by the light modulator;
A drawing apparatus comprising: An inspection apparatus for inspecting a pattern formed by etching on an object,
A data correction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An actual image storage unit for storing inspection image data which is image data of a pattern formed by etching on an object;
The defect of the pattern formed on the object is detected by comparing the inspection image data with the design data corrected according to the actual line width and size after etching by the data correction device. A defect detection unit;
An inspection apparatus comprising: A data correction method for correcting design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object,
a) preparing design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object;
b) A plurality of criteria on the object , with the relationship between the gap width between the graphic elements included in the pattern and the etching amount, which is the amount by which the graphic elements on the object are excessively etched, as etching characteristics Preparing a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to each position;
c) For each of the plurality of divided regions set on the object, the plurality of etching characteristics are weighted based on the positional relationship between each divided region and the plurality of reference positions, and then weighted. Determining a region etching characteristic that is an etching characteristic of each of the divided regions based on the plurality of etching characteristics performed,
d) dividing the design data into a plurality of divided data corresponding to the plurality of divided areas, and correcting each divided data based on the area etching characteristics of the divided areas corresponding to the divided data; ,
A data correction method comprising: The data correction method according to claim 7, comprising:
In the step a), the design data having the same division pattern indicated by each of the plurality of division data is prepared . A data correction method according to claim 8, wherein
In the step d), when the plurality of pieces of divided data include two or more pieces of divided data having the same region etching characteristics, correction of one of the two or more pieces of divided data is performed. The data correction method is characterized in that the correction result of the one divided data is also used as the correction result of the other divided data. A data correction method according to any one of claims 7 to 9,
The weighting to the plurality of etching characteristics in the step c) is to multiply each etching characteristic by a weighting factor based on the distance between the reference position corresponding to each etching characteristic and the divided region,
Among the plurality of etching characteristics, the weighting coefficient multiplied to the etching characteristics corresponding to the closest one of the reference position to the each divided area is 1, the weighting factor to be multiplied to the etching characteristics of the non-pre disappeared etching characteristics A data correction method characterized in that 0 is zero. A drawing method for drawing a pattern on an object,
A step of correcting design data by the data correction method according to claim 7;
Scanning the object with light modulated based on the corrected design data;
A drawing method comprising: An inspection method for inspecting a pattern formed by etching on an object,
A step of correcting design data by the data correction method according to claim 7;
By comparing pairs and inspection image data is image data of the pattern formed by etching on the elephant was the actual said design data corrected in accordance with the line width and the magnitude of the post-etching, the object Detecting defects in the pattern formed thereon;
An inspection method comprising: A program for correcting design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object, and execution of the program by a computer is performed on the computer,
a) preparing design data of a pattern formed by etching on an object;
b) A plurality of criteria on the object , with the relationship between the gap width between the graphic elements included in the pattern and the etching amount, which is the amount by which the graphic elements on the object are excessively etched, as etching characteristics Preparing a plurality of etching characteristics corresponding to each position;
c) For each of the plurality of divided regions set on the object, the plurality of etching characteristics are weighted based on the positional relationship between each divided region and the plurality of reference positions, and then weighted. Determining a region etching characteristic that is an etching characteristic of each of the divided regions based on the plurality of etching characteristics performed,
d) dividing the design data into a plurality of divided data corresponding to the plurality of divided areas, and correcting each divided data based on the area etching characteristics of the divided areas corresponding to the divided data; ,
A program characterized by having executed.

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