JP5232429B2 - Drawing apparatus and drawing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a drawing apparatus and a drawing method, and more particularly, to a drawing apparatus and method for transferring drawing data for drawing using an electron beam inside the apparatus.

  Lithography technology, which is responsible for the progress of miniaturization of semiconductor devices, is an extremely important process for generating a pattern among semiconductor manufacturing processes. In recent years, with the high integration of LSI, circuit line widths required for semiconductor devices have been reduced year by year. In order to form a desired circuit pattern on these semiconductor devices, a highly accurate original pattern (also referred to as a reticle or a mask) is required. Here, the electron beam (electron beam) drawing technique has an essentially excellent resolution, and is used for producing a high-precision original pattern.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the operation of a conventional variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus.
In a first aperture 410 in a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus (EB (Electron beam) drawing apparatus), a rectangular, for example, rectangular opening 411 for forming the electron beam 330 is formed. Further, the second aperture 420 is formed with a variable shaping opening 421 for shaping the electron beam 330 having passed through the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 into a desired rectangular shape. The electron beam 330 irradiated from the charged particle source 430 and passed through the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 is deflected by the deflector, passes through a part of the variable shaping opening 421 of the second aperture 420, and passes through a predetermined range. The sample is irradiated on a stage that moves continuously in one direction (for example, the X direction). That is, the drawing area of the sample 340 mounted on the stage in which the rectangular shape that can pass through both the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 and the variable shaping opening 421 of the second aperture 420 is continuously moved in the X direction. Drawn on. A method of creating an arbitrary shape by passing both the opening 411 of the first aperture 410 and the variable shaping opening 421 of the second aperture 420 is referred to as a variable shaping method.

  In performing such electron beam drawing, a plurality of drawing data files that can be input to the electron beam drawing apparatus are input to a disk in the apparatus. Then, in the drawing apparatus, a plurality of data processing such as a format check of drawing data of each file is performed and transferred to the next disk in the apparatus. A plurality of data processing is performed by pipeline processing that executes a series of operations in parallel to improve efficiency. Further, in the drawing apparatus, after data conversion, the pattern defined in the data is drawn on the sample.

Here, although not an electron beam drawing apparatus, description of an external apparatus that is offline is disclosed. In the external device (drawing data creation device), a plurality of arithmetic units with different numbers of serially connected processors are provided in parallel when creating the drawing data. As a result, even design data with different loads can be converted into drawing data with a pipeline configuration (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-90141

  As described above, when a plurality of drawing data files are input to a disk in the apparatus, a series of pipelines that perform a plurality of data processing such as format checking of the data of each file and transfer it to the next disk in the apparatus Processing is performed. Here, when the data size of the drawing data is small, the time for performing a plurality of data processing such as format inspection which is a part of the pipeline processing tends to be short. However, for such drawing data with a small data size, the ratio of the head time of the file transfer protocol to the transfer time of the data portion becomes large when the file transferred at the end of the pipeline processing is transferred.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of pipeline processing.
FIG. 6 shows an example in which data processing of files 1, 2, and 3 is performed as a series of pipelines for processing 1, 2 and file transfer. As described above, when processing drawing data with a small data size, the pipeline relationship is maintained in the processing 1 and the processing 2, but the ratio of the head time is large in the transfer stage, and therefore, the dotted line is indicated by a dotted line. A big lag from the ideal state. As described above, when the drawing data having a small data size increases, the drawing data file, which has been sequentially processed, is greatly affected by the head time when sequentially transferred to the next disk. Therefore, there has been a problem that the time until the completion of a series of pipeline processing is limited by the head time, although the efficiency has been improved by pipeline processing. This makes it impossible to proceed with data processing efficiently.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a drawing apparatus and method for overcoming such problems and performing highly efficient data processing.

The drawing device of one embodiment of the present invention includes:
A first storage device for storing a first plurality of drawing data files;
A plurality of data processing units that sequentially read out the first plurality of drawing data files from the first storage device and perform a plurality of processes so as to perform pipeline processing on the drawing data of each drawing data file read out When,
An integration processing unit that integrates other drawing data files whose data processing has ended until reaching a predetermined threshold value into the drawing data file whose data processing has ended first;
A transfer processing unit for transferring the integrated data file;
A second storage device for storing the transferred integrated data file;
Independently of the pipeline processing, a development unit that develops the integrated data file stored in the second storage device into the second plurality of drawing data files;
With
The second plurality of drawing data files that have been expanded are stored in the second storage device again,
The image forming apparatus further includes a drawing unit that draws a pattern defined on the plurality of integrated drawing data files in which the integrated data file is developed using a charged particle beam on the sample. .

  Conventionally, the head time is required for the number of drawing data files to be transferred. However, by integrating the drawing data files, the head time for transferring the integrated data file can be reduced to one time. Therefore, even when there are many drawing data files with a small data size, the influence of the head time on the transfer time of all the drawing data files can be reduced.

  A predetermined data size is preferably used as the predetermined threshold. Alternatively, a predetermined number of drawing unit areas may be used as the predetermined threshold.

  In addition, it is preferable to further include a development unit that develops the integrated data file into a second plurality of drawing data files.

The drawing method of one embodiment of the present invention includes:
The first plurality of drawing data files are sequentially read from the first storage device that stores the first plurality of drawing data files, and pipeline processing is performed on the read drawing data of each drawing data file. A plurality of data processing steps for performing a plurality of processes;
An integration processing step of integrating other drawing data files whose data processing has been completed later until reaching a predetermined threshold value into the drawing data file whose data processing has been completed first;
A transfer processing step of transferring the integrated integrated data file to the second storage device ;
Independently of the pipeline processing, the step of expanding the integrated data file stored in the second storage device into the second plurality of drawing data files and storing it again in the second storage device When,
Using a load charged particles beam, a drawing step of drawing the integrated data file is file expansion, a defined pattern on the had been integrated second plurality of drawing data file in the sample,
It is provided with.

  According to the present invention, the influence of the head time on the transfer time can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of a series of pipeline processing.

  Hereinafter, in the embodiment, a configuration using an electron beam will be described as an example of a charged particle beam. However, the charged particle beam is not limited to an electron beam, and a beam using charged particles such as an ion beam may be used. As an example of the charged particle beam apparatus, a charged particle beam drawing apparatus, particularly, a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus will be described.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a drawing apparatus according to the first embodiment.
In FIG. 1, a drawing apparatus 100 is an example of an electron beam drawing apparatus. The drawing apparatus 100 includes a drawing unit 150 and a control unit 160. The drawing unit 150 includes a drawing chamber 103 and an electronic lens barrel 102 disposed on the upper portion of the drawing chamber 103. In the electron column 102, an electron gun 201, an illumination lens 202, a first aperture 203, a projection lens 204, a deflector 205, a second aperture 206, an objective lens 207, and a deflector 208 are provided. An XY stage 105 is arranged in the drawing chamber 103, and a sample 101 to be drawn is arranged on the XY stage 105. The control unit 160 includes a drawing control circuit 110, a control unit 120, and magnetic disk devices 140.142, 144. The magnetic disk devices 140.142 and 144 are examples of storage devices. The components of the control unit 160 are connected to each other via a bus (not shown). The control unit 120 includes a pipeline control unit 121, an input unit 122, a format inspection unit 124, a shot density calculation unit 126, a file integration unit 128, a transfer unit 130, a file development unit 132, and a memory 134. The memory 134 is an example of a storage device. Here, the pipeline control unit 121, the input unit 122, the format check unit 124, the shot density calculation unit 126, the file integration unit 128, the transfer unit 130, and the file development unit 132 are executed by a computer such as a CPU that executes a program. Each processing function may be configured. Alternatively, each configuration of the pipeline control unit 121, the input unit 122, the format inspection unit 124, the shot density calculation unit 126, the file integration unit 128, the transfer unit 130, and the file development unit 132 is configured by hardware using an electric circuit. May be. Or you may make it implement by the combination of the hardware and software by an electrical circuit. Alternatively, a combination of such hardware and firmware may be used. Further, in the case of implementation by software or in combination with software, information input to a computer that executes processing or information during and after arithmetic processing is stored in the memory 134 each time. In FIG. 1, constituent parts necessary for explaining the first embodiment are described. Needless to say, the drawing apparatus 100 may normally include other necessary configurations.

  In performing electron beam drawing, first, a layout of a semiconductor integrated circuit is designed, and design data in which a pattern layout is defined is generated. The design data is converted by an external conversion device, and a plurality of drawing data 12 that can be input to the drawing device 100 is generated. Each drawing data file of drawing data 12 for drawing a predetermined pattern on the sample 101 is stored in an external magnetic disk device 300 as an example of a storage device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hierarchical structure of drawing data according to the first embodiment.
In the drawing data, the drawing area is a layer of the chip 10, a layer of the frame 14 virtually divided into strips in the y direction, for example, a layer of the block 16 that divided the frame 14, and at least one figure. It is hierarchized for each of a series of a plurality of internal structural units such as a layer of the configured cell 18 and a layer of a graphic 19 configuring the cell 18. In general, a plurality of layers of the chip 10 are laid out with respect to the drawing region of one sample 101. Here, the chip area of the frame 14 is divided into strips in the y direction (predetermined direction), but this is an example, and the chip area is divided in the x direction that is parallel to the drawing surface and orthogonal to the y direction. It is possible that Alternatively, other directions parallel to the drawing surface may be used.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of drawing data according to the first embodiment.
When a pattern is drawn by the drawing apparatus, for example, the frame 14 is drawn as a drawing unit area. In FIG. 3, as an example, the drawing data 12 located in the frame area identified by the number “n” in a certain chip 10 will be described. Then, cell arrangement data, link data, and cell pattern data are created as the drawing data 12 for the frame. In FIG. 3, a drawing data file in which drawing data 12 for one frame is defined includes a cell arrangement data file 22, a link data file 24, and a cell pattern data file 26 as an example. These files are created for each frame. The drawing data 12 further includes a chip configuration file 20 that defines configuration information of each frame, parameters common to the entire chip, and the like for a chip configured with one or more frames. Further, FIG. 3 shows an example of a correspondence relationship between each data in the cell arrangement data file 22, the link data file 24, and the cell pattern data file 26. When a desired pattern is drawn on a sample, the mask is composed of one or more chips 10 for one mask. In such a case, there are a plurality of chip data composed of these files, and has layout information for arranging them on the mask.

  The cell arrangement data file 22 includes arrangement data (arrangement information) for arranging the cells 18 corresponding to the pattern data of a certain chip 10 included in the design data. The cell arrangement data file 22 includes arrangement data for arranging any of the arranged cells 18 for each block area, for example. The cell arrangement data is indicated by coordinates indicating the arrangement position of the reference point of the cell 18. In FIG. 3, a cell arrangement data file 22 is followed by a block (0, 0) header, cell arrangement data (p), cell arrangement data (q), and cells arranged in the block (0, 0). Arranged data (r), block (0, 1) header, cell arrangement data (s) arranged in block (0, 1), block (1, 0) header, arranged in block (1, 0) The cell arrangement data (t) is defined (stored). Other arrangement data is further stored.

  Next, the cell pattern data file 26 includes each pattern data of a plurality of cells 18 arranged in the nth frame 14 of a certain chip 10. In FIG. 3, each pattern data of the cells (i) to (l) is shown as an example. Here, the cell pattern data file 26 includes, as part thereof, a pattern data segment (0), cell pattern data (i) indicating pattern data of the cell (i), and cell pattern indicating pattern data of the cell (j). Data (j) is stored once in order. Subsequently, cell pattern data (k) indicating the pattern data segment (1) and the pattern data of the cell (k) is stored. Further, other data is stored, and thereafter, pattern data segment (4) and cell pattern data (l) indicating the pattern data of cell (l) are stored.

  The link data file 24 includes link information for referring to each cell pattern data from each cell arrangement data and operation information to the cell pattern data. In FIG. 3, the link data file 24 includes, as a part thereof, relation data (a) for associating cell arrangement data (p) with cell pattern data (i), and cell arrangement data (q) as cell pattern data. Relation data (b) for relating to (j), Relation data (c) for relating cell arrangement data (r) to cell pattern data (i), and cell arrangement data (s) to cell pattern data (k) ) And relation data (e) for associating the cell arrangement data (t) with the cell pattern data (l) are stored together with other data.

  As described above, the drawing apparatus 100 inputs a plurality of drawing data files and transfers the plurality of drawing data files through a series of pipeline processes as will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining pipeline processing in the first embodiment.
In FIG. 4, the control unit 120 executes a series of processing including data input processing, format inspection processing, shot density calculation processing, transfer reservation, file integration, and file transfer processing as pipeline processing.

  First, as a data input process, as shown in FIG. 4, the input unit 122 inputs drawing data files in order of frame 1, frame 2, frame 3, frame 4,. The plurality of input drawing data files (first plurality of drawing data files) are stored in the magnetic disk device 140 (first storage device). The input unit 122 is controlled by the pipeline control unit 121.

  Subsequently, as a format inspection process, the format inspection unit 124 sequentially reads a plurality of drawing data files from the magnetic disk device 140. Then, the format checking unit 124 performs format checking on the read drawing data of each drawing data file so as to perform pipeline processing as shown in FIG. The format inspection unit 124 is controlled by the pipeline control unit 121. The result of the format check for each file is stored in the magnetic disk device 144.

  Subsequently, as a shot density calculation step, the shot density calculation unit 126 sequentially reads a plurality of drawing data files from the magnetic disk device 140. Then, the shot density calculation unit 126 performs shot density calculation on the read drawing data of each drawing data file so as to perform pipeline processing as shown in FIG. The shot density calculation unit 126 is controlled by the pipeline control unit 121. The calculated shot density is stored in the magnetic disk device 144.

  Here, the format inspection unit 124 and the shot density calculation unit 126, which are an example of a plurality of data processing units, perform two processes, ie, a format inspection process and a shot density calculation process, as a plurality of data processes. It is not limited. Needless to say, three or more processes may be performed.

  Subsequently, as a transfer reservation / file integration processing step, the file integration unit 128 integrates another drawing data file whose data processing is completed later until the predetermined threshold value is reached in the drawing data file whose data processing has been completed previously. The file integration unit 128 is an example of an integration processing unit. Specifically, it operates as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 4, the file integration unit 128 makes a transfer reservation for a drawing data file whose data processing has been completed until a predetermined threshold is reached so as to perform pipeline processing. For example, each frame number for which data processing has been completed is stored in the memory 134. Then, every time the drawing data file for which transfer reservation has been made reaches a predetermined threshold, the file integration unit 128 reads a plurality of corresponding drawing data files (second drawing data files) that have been reserved for transfer so far. Read from the magnetic disk device 140 and integrate. The integrated integrated data file is stored in the magnetic disk device 140.

  For example, a predetermined data size is preferably used as the predetermined threshold. That is, one integrated data file is created by integrating (archiving) the files so that the total data size of a plurality of drawing data files reserved for transfer becomes a substantially constant data size. For example, the data size is about 100 MB. The file integration is preferably created in an archive format such as a ZIP file.

  Alternatively, it is preferable that a predetermined number of frames (drawing unit areas) is used as the predetermined threshold. That is, one integrated data file is created by integrating files so that the number of frames reserved for transfer becomes a fixed number of frames. For example, the number of frames is 1000 frames.

  As the file transfer processing step, the transfer unit 130 sequentially reads the integrated data file integrated for each predetermined threshold value from the magnetic disk device 140 and uses the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to read the magnetic disk device 142 (second To the storage device). The transfer unit 130 is an example of a transfer processing unit. The sequentially transferred integrated data file is stored (stored) in the magnetic disk device 142.

  Conventionally, transfer processing is required as many times as the number of drawing data files to be transferred, and FTP head time is required each time. However, in the first embodiment, one transfer can be achieved by integrating drawing data files. it can. Therefore, the FTP head time for transferring the integrated data file can be reduced to one time. Therefore, even when there are many drawing data files with a small data size, the influence of the head time on the transfer time of all the drawing data files can be reduced. As a result, the efficiency of a series of pipeline processing can be improved.

  As described above, each file that has been transferred is an integrated data file, so it is difficult to use it for the next data processing as it is. Therefore, as a file expansion process, the file expansion unit 132 reads the integrated data file from the magnetic disk device 142 and expands the file into a plurality of original drawing data files. Then, the plurality of drawing data files developed as files are stored (stored) in the magnetic disk device 142 again. This file expansion process may be performed separately from the pipeline process described above. Therefore, it does not affect the efficiency of the series of pipeline processes described above. Here, the file development unit 132 is arranged in the control unit 120, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be arranged in the drawing control circuit 110. Or you may comprise independently. Or you may arrange | position in the structure which is not illustrated in figure.

  When the drawing data file for each frame is stored in the magnetic disk device 142 as described above, the drawing control device 110 converts the drawing data defined in these files. Then, as a drawing process, the drawing unit 150 uses the electron beam 200 to draw a pattern defined in a plurality of drawing data files converted by the drawing control device 110 on the sample 101. Specifically, the drawing operation is performed as follows.

  The electron beam 200 emitted from the electron gun 201 illuminates the entire first aperture 203 having a rectangular shape, for example, a rectangular hole, by the illumination lens 202. Here, the electron beam 200 is first formed into a rectangle, for example, a rectangle. Then, the electron beam 200 of the first aperture image that has passed through the first aperture 203 is projected onto the second aperture 206 by the projection lens 204. The position of the first aperture image on the second aperture 206 is controlled by the deflector 205, and the beam shape and size can be changed. Then, the electron beam 200 of the second aperture image that has passed through the second aperture 206 is focused by the objective lens 207, deflected by the deflector 208, and the sample 101 on the XY stage 105 that is movably disposed. The desired position is irradiated.

  As described above, by performing file transfer after file integration, the number of FTPs is drastically reduced when there are many frame data with a small data size. As a result, the FTP head time can be greatly reduced. Therefore, the rate limiting can be suppressed by data transfer.

  The embodiments have been described above with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to these specific examples.

  In addition, although descriptions are omitted for parts and the like that are not directly required for the description of the present invention, such as a device configuration and a control method, a required device configuration and a control method can be appropriately selected and used. For example, the description of the control unit configuration for controlling the variable shaping type EB drawing apparatus 100 is omitted, but it is needless to say that the required control unit configuration is appropriately selected and used.

  In addition, all charged particle beam drawing apparatuses, charged particle beam drawing methods, charged particle beam drawing data creation methods, charged particle beam drawing data conversion methods, which include elements of the present invention and can be appropriately modified by those skilled in the art, And their devices are within the scope of the present invention.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a drawing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hierarchical structure of drawing data according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of drawing data according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining pipeline processing in the first embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating operation | movement of the conventional variable shaping type | mold electron beam drawing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a pipeline process.

Explanation of symbols

10 chip 12 drawing data 14 frame 16 block 18 cell 19 figure 20 chip configuration file 22 cell arrangement data file 24 link data file 26 cell pattern data file 100 drawing apparatus 101, 340 sample 102 electron column 103 drawing room 105 XY stage 110 drawing Control circuit 120 Control unit 121 Pipeline control unit 122 Input unit 124 Format inspection unit 126 Shot density calculation unit 128 File integration unit 130 Transfer unit 132 File development unit 134 Memory 140, 142, 144, 300 Magnetic disk unit 150 Drawing unit 160 Control Part 200 Electron beam 201 Electron gun 202 Illumination lenses 203 and 410 First aperture 206 and 420 Second aperture 204 Projection lenses 205 and 208 Deflector 207 Object lens 330 electron beam 411 opening 421 variable-shaped opening 430 a charged particle source

Claims (4)

A first storage device for storing a first plurality of drawing data files;
A plurality of data for sequentially reading the first plurality of drawing data files from the first storage device and performing a plurality of processes so as to perform pipeline processing on the drawing data of each drawing data file read out A processing unit;
An integration processing unit that integrates other drawing data files whose data processing has ended until reaching a predetermined threshold value into the drawing data file whose data processing has ended first;
A transfer processing unit for transferring the integrated data file;
A second storage device for storing the transferred integrated data file;
Independently of the pipeline processing, a development unit that develops the integrated data file stored in the second storage device into the second plurality of drawing data files;
With
The second plurality of drawing data files that have been expanded are stored in the second storage device again,
The image forming apparatus further includes a drawing unit that draws a pattern defined on the plurality of integrated drawing data files in which the integrated data file is developed using a charged particle beam on the sample. Drawing device.   The drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined data size is used as the predetermined threshold.   The drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined number of drawing unit areas is used as the predetermined threshold. The first plurality of drawing data files are sequentially read from the first storage device that stores the first plurality of drawing data files, and pipeline processing is performed on the drawing data of each read drawing data file. A plurality of data processing steps for performing a plurality of processes,
An integration processing step of integrating other drawing data files whose data processing has been completed later until reaching a predetermined threshold value into the drawing data file whose data processing has been completed first;
A transfer processing step of transferring the integrated integrated data file to the second storage device ;
Independently of the pipeline processing, the step of expanding the integrated data file stored in the second storage device into the second plurality of drawing data files and storing it again in the second storage device When,
Using a load charged particles beam, a drawing step of drawing the integrated data file is file expansion, a defined pattern on the had been integrated second plurality of drawing data file in the sample,
A drawing method characterized by comprising: