Charged particle beam exposure apparatus, charged particle beam exposure method and device manufacturing method

1. A charged particle beam exposure apparatus for writing a desired pattern on a substrate using a charged particle beam, said apparatus comprising:

a blanking unit, having a deflector capable of deflecting the charged particle beam in at least two directions, configured to control beam passage to the substrate by deflecting the charged particle beam; and

a setting unit configured to set a deflection direction of the charged particle beam by the deflector.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said blanking unit has an aperture to pass the charged particle beam,

and wherein said deflector deflects the charged particle beam in at least two directions by at least two pairs of electrodes provided around the aperture.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said blanking unit has a deflector having an aperture to pass the charged particle beam and at least a pair of electrodes provided with the aperture therebetween, and said unit is rotatable about an optical axis.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said blanking unit has an aperture to pass the charged particle beam,

and wherein said deflector has at least four pairs of electrodes provided around the aperture, and deflects the charged particle beam in at least four directions.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a scanning unit configured to relatively scan the charged particle beam to the substrate,

wherein said setting unit sets the deflection direction of the charged particle beam by the deflector based on a scanning direction of the charged particle beam.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein said setting unit sets the deflection direction of the charged particle beam to a direction approximately vertical to the scanning direction of the charged particle beam.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said setting unit sets the deflection direction of the charged particle beam based on a beam shape of the charged particle beam on the substrate.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said setting unit divides an exposure area on the substrate into plural partial areas, and sets the deflection direction for said deflector based on the beam shape of the charged particle beam, by the plural partial areas.

9. The apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein said setting unit sets the deflection direction of the charged particle beam to a direction where a beam diameter of sad the charged particle beam is the shortest on the substrate.

10. A charged particle beam exposure apparatus for printing a desired pattern on a substrate using plural charged particle beams, said apparatus comprising:

a blanking array unit, having plural deflectors provided in correspondence with the respective charged particle beams, to deflect the charged particle beam into at least two directions, configured to control beam passage to the substrate by respectively deflecting the plural charged particle beams; and

a setting unit configured to set a respective deflection direction of a charged particle beam for the plural deflectors.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein, regarding each of the plural charged particle beams, said setting unit sets the deflection direction for a corresponding deflector based on a beam shape of charged a particle beam on the substrate.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein said setting unit divides an exposure area on the substrate into plural partial areas, and sets the deflection direction for each said deflector by the plural partial areas.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein said setting unit sets the deflection direction of the charged particle beam to a direction where a beam diameter of the charged particle beam is the shortest on the substrate.

14. A charged particle beam exposure method for writing a desired pattern on a substrate using a charged particle beam, said method comprising:

a step of dividing an exposure area on the substrate into plural partial areas;

a step of detecting a beam shape for each partial area;

a step of obtaining a beam minor axis direction from the detected beam shape, on each partial area, prior to an actual writing exposure; and

a step of controlling beam passage to the substrate by deflecting the charged particle beam in the obtained beam minor axis direction, for each partial area.

15. A charged particle beam exposure method for printing a desired pattern on a substrate using plural charged particle beams, said method comprising:

a step of detecting a beam shape of each of the plural charged particle beams;

a step of obtaining a beam minor axis direction from the detected beam shape, for each of the plural charged particle beams, prior to an actual writing exposure; and

a step of controlling beam passage to the substrate by deflecting the plural charged particle beams in the respectively obtained beam minor axis directions.

16. A device fabrication method comprising:

a step of exposing a substrate using the charged particle beam exposure apparatus according to claim 1 ; and

a step of developing the substrate.

17. A device fabrication method comprising:

a step of exposing a substrate using the charged particle beam exposure apparatus according to claim 10 ; and

a step of developing the substrate.