DRAWING APPARATUS, DRAWING METHOD, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING PLATE

Application No. 18/179,238

• Filed: Mar 06, 2023
• Priority: Jun 21, 2022 — JP 2022-099937
• Examiner: CAIN, ZACHARY ANDREW
• Art Unit: 2116
• Tech Center: 2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
• Assignee: KIOXIA Corporation
• OA Round: 2 (Final)

Office Action

DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination. Claims 1, 4-8 and 13-20 are amended. This office action is response to the submission on 3/6/2023.

Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20, see pages 9-11 of applicant response filed 3/6/2023, have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.

Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 12/3/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.

The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.

Claim 14 recites the limitation "the position to be irradiated..." in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the purposes of examination, examiner is treating this term as if it was introduced on this line.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.

The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.

Claims 1-5, 15, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamikubo (US20130334442A1) in view of Nomura et al. (US20230102923A1).

Claim 1:
Kamikubo teaches “A drawing apparatus comprising: a drawer configured to draw a pattern on a plurality of regions with a beam;” (Kamikubo teaches an electron beam writing apparatus provided with a writing chamber 1 i.e. a drawer in Kamikubo [0042] "FIG. 1 shows an electron beam writing apparatus, which applies an electron beam B to a surface of a mask M and writes a desired pattern. The electron beam writing apparatus is provided with a writing chamber 1 and an electronic optical lens barrel 2 which is an electron beam irradiation device provided upright on a ceiling portion of the writing chamber 1."; Kamikubo teaches dividing the writing into a plurality of stripes 52 i.e. regions in Kamikubo [0061] "FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of writing with the electron beam 200. As shown in FIG. 2, a writing region 51 on the mask M is divided into a plurality of stripes 52. Writing with the electron beam B is repeated for each stripe 52 while the stage 3 continuously moves in one direction, for example in the plus or minus X-direction. The stripes 52 is further divided into a plurality of sub-deflection regions 53, and the electron beam B writes only the necessary internal portions of each sub-deflection region 53."),
“an operator configured to transfer a data for irradiating the plurality of regions with the beam;” (Kamikubo teaches a control unit 10 i.e. operator which provides an irradiation control unit 7 with pattern writing data in Kamikubo [0060] "The irradiation control unit 7 confirms the position of the stage 3 measured by the stage position measuring unit 12 based on the pattern writing data input from the control unit 10 and meanwhile performs shaping control and deflection control of the electron beam B in the electronic optical lens barrel 2, and the irradiation control unit 7 applies the electron beam B at a required position of the mask M."),
“and a controller configured to control the drawing on the plurality of regions with the drawer, based on the data for the plurality of regions transferred from the operator,” (Kamikubo teaches an irradiation control unit 7 i.e. controller which performs shaping and deflection control of an electron beam B i.e. it controls drawing on the plurality of regions based on data transferred from the control unit 10 i.e. operator in Kamikubo [0060] "The irradiation control unit 7 confirms the position of the stage 3 measured by the stage position measuring unit 12 based on the pattern writing data input from the control unit 10 and meanwhile performs shaping control and deflection control of the electron beam B in the electronic optical lens barrel 2, and the irradiation control unit 7 applies the electron beam B at a required position of the mask M."), and
“wherein when performing the drawing on a first region and then the drawing on a second region, the controller corrects a state of the drawer between completion of drawing on the first region and completion of transfer of the data for the second region or (Kamikubo teaches that drift correction may occur after completion of of a first stripe i.e. region in Kamikubo [0114-0115] "After the first stripe is written and the writing reaches the stripe end of the first stripe, whether or not the drift amount is measured is determined in the process (6). When the measurement is performed, the flow proceeds to the process (7). More specifically, the irradiation position of the electron beam B is moved to the reference mark. Then, the position of the reference mark is scanned with the electron beam B to detect the position, and thus, to measure the drift amount in a drift amount measuring unit 14. Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated."; Kamikubo teaches calculating a drift correction value and writing the second stripe i.e. region using the corrected pattern writing data in Kamikubo [0115-0117] "Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated. The pattern writing data generated in a stripe generation unit 19 is data of a design value. Thus, the pattern writing data of the design value and the data of the correction value from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15 are added and combined by an adding calculator 16. According to this constitution, the pattern writing data of the design value is rewritten, and the pattern writing data in which the beam drift amount is corrected is obtained. Subsequently, the second stripe is written based on the corrected pattern writing data (process (5))."

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Kamikubo does not appear to explicitly teach “wherein: the controller predicts a charge amount of the substrate based on the data for irradiating the plurality of regions,”, “predicts a position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted charge amount,”, and “and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted position, and”. However, Nomura does teach these claim limitations.
Nomura teaches “wherein: the controller predicts a charge amount of the substrate based on the data for irradiating the plurality of regions,” (Nomura teaches a pattern distribution arithmetic step that divides the writing region and calculates a pattern density in Nomura [0042] "In the pattern density distribution arithmetic step (step S100), the pattern density distribution calculation unit 31 reads out writing data of an evaluation pattern from the storage device 140, virtually divides the writing region (or the frame regions) in a mesh-like manner so as to have a predetermined mesh size (grid dimensions), and calculates, on a mesh region basis (a charging effect correction mesh region basis), a pattern density p representing the arrangement ratio of a shape pattern defined in the writing data. A pattern density distribution p(x, y) on a mesh region basis is then generated."; Nomura teaches a charge calculation step in Nomura [0050] "In the charge amount distribution calculation step (step S108), the charge amount distribution calculation unit 35 calculates a charge amount distribution C(x, y) using the irradiation amount distribution E, the fogging electron amount distribution F, and a charge decay amount over time."; Nomura teaches that charge decay amounts are dependent on pattern density i.e. the charge calculation is based on the data for irradiating the regions in Nomura [0058] "Moreover, charge decay amounts kE(p) and kF(p) used in Eqs. (6) and (8) and dependent on the pattern density p can be approximated as, for example, the following Eqs. (9) and (10). In this case, Eqs. (9) and (10) are quadratic functions; however, the equations are not limited thereto and may be higher-order or lower-order functions.";
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“predicts a position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted charge amount,” (Nomura teaches after the charge calculation step, it performs a position shift based on the charge distribution in Nomura [0063] "In the position shift distribution calculation step (step S110), the position shift distribution calculation unit 38 (a position shift calculation unit) calculates a position shift based on the charge amount distribution. Specifically, the position shift distribution calculation unit 38 calculates a position shift P of a writing position (x, y) due to the charge amount at each position (x, y) of the charge amount distribution C(x, y) by convolving the charge amount distribution calculated in step S108 with a response function r(x, y)."), and
“and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted position, and” (Nomura teaches after the position shift distribution calculation step, it corrects the irradiation position using the position shift calculated in S110 in Nomura [0067] "In the deflection position correction step (step S112) (a position shift correction step), the position shift correction unit 42 corrects the irradiation position using the position shift calculated in step S110. In this case, the shot data for each position is corrected. Specifically, to the shot data for each position (x, y), a correction value for correcting the position shift represented by the position shift map Pi(x, y) is added.").
Kamikubo and Nomura are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo and Nomura before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura because adding the Charged particle beam writing method of Nomura would allow for beam shift correction with high accuracy as described Nomura [0011] “According to the present invention, a beam irradiation position shift caused by charging phenomena can be corrected with high accuracy.”

Claim 2:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of regions are a plurality of stripes formed by dividing a drawing region in a predetermined direction.” (Kamikubo teaches dividing a writing region 51 into a plurality of stripes in the X-direction in Kamikubo [0061] "FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of writing with the electron beam 200. As shown in FIG. 2, a writing region 51 on the mask M is divided into a plurality of stripes 52. Writing with the electron beam B is repeated for each stripe 52 while the stage 3 continuously moves in one direction, for example in the plus or minus X-direction. The stripes 52 is further divided into a plurality of sub-deflection regions 53, and the electron beam B writes only the necessary internal portions of each sub-deflection region 53."

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Claim 3:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the correction is beam drift correction of the drawer.” (Kamikubo teaches calculating a beam drift correction value in Kamikubo [0115-0117] "Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated. The pattern writing data generated in a stripe generation unit 19 is data of a design value. Thus, the pattern writing data of the design value and the data of the correction value from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15 are added and combined by an adding calculator 16. According to this constitution, the pattern writing data of the design value is rewritten, and the pattern writing data in which the beam drift amount is corrected is obtained. Subsequently, the second stripe is written based on the corrected pattern writing data (process (5)).").

Claim 4:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operator generates the data for irradiating the plurality of region, from data for pattern drawing on the plurality of regions.” (Kamikubo teaches generating layout data i.e. data for pattern drawing on the plurality of regions based on pattern data in Kamikubo [0102] "First, the layout data is generated in a layout data generation unit 13 of the control unit 10 based on pattern data from the memory 11 of FIG. 1 (process (1) in FIG. 6)."; Kamikubo teaches next determining the density of the pattern in Kamikubo [0103] "Next, the area density of the pattern of the layout data is obtained in a pattern area density calculating unit 17 (process (2))."; Kamikubo teaches next determining the width of the stripes in Kamikubo [0105] "A stripe width determination information acquisition unit 18 obtains information to determine what kind of stripe the layout data is to be divided into (process (3))."; Kamikubo teaches next generating the stripes i.e. data for irradiating the plurality of regions in Kamikubo [0110] "The stripe generation unit 19 divides the layout data into strips with a predetermined width based on information from the stripe width determination information acquisition unit 18 (Step 4). The width of the stripe is changed according to an area density of a pattern of the layout data. For example, it is assumed that the data from the pattern area density calculating unit 17 is pattern area density of each stripe when the layout pattern is divided into a plurality of stripes with standard width. In this case, when the pattern area density is at a predetermined value or more than a predetermined value, the width of the stripe is narrower than the standard width. When the pattern area density is at a predetermined value or less than a predetermined value, the width of stripe is wider than the standard width. For example, when the pattern area density in a single stripe is 50% or more, the stripe is divided into two portions in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the stripe.").

Claim 5:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of Claim 4, wherein the data for pattern drawing on the plurality of regions is drawing data, and the data for irradiating the plurality of regions is shot data.” (Kamikubo teaches generating layout data i.e drawing data based on pattern data in Kamikubo [0102] "First, the layout data is generated in a layout data generation unit 13 of the control unit 10 based on pattern data from the memory 11 of FIG. 1 (process (1) in FIG. 6)."; Kamikubo teaches next determining the density of the pattern in Kamikubo [0103] "Next, the area density of the pattern of the layout data is obtained in a pattern area density calculating unit 17 (process (2))."; Kamikubo teaches next determining the width of the stripes in Kamikubo [0105] "A stripe width determination information acquisition unit 18 obtains information to determine what kind of stripe the layout data is to be divided into (process (3))."; Kamikubo teaches next generating the stripes i.e. shot data in Kamikubo [0110] "The stripe generation unit 19 divides the layout data into strips with a predetermined width based on information from the stripe width determination information acquisition unit 18 (Step 4). The width of the stripe is changed according to an area density of a pattern of the layout data. For example, it is assumed that the data from the pattern area density calculating unit 17 is pattern area density of each stripe when the layout pattern is divided into a plurality of stripes with standard width. In this case, when the pattern area density is at a predetermined value or more than a predetermined value, the width of the stripe is narrower than the standard width. When the pattern area density is at a predetermined value or less than a predetermined value, the width of stripe is wider than the standard width. For example, when the pattern area density in a single stripe is 50% or more, the stripe is divided into two portions in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the stripe.").

Claim 15:
Kamikubo teaches “A drawing method comprising: transferring, from an operator, a data for irradiating a plurality of regions with a beam of a drawer when a pattern is drawn on the plurality of regions with the beam;” (Kamikubo teaches a control unit 10 i.e. operator which provides an irradiation control unit 7 with pattern writing data in Kamikubo [0060] "The irradiation control unit 7 confirms the position of the stage 3 measured by the stage position measuring unit 12 based on the pattern writing data input from the control unit 10 and meanwhile performs shaping control and deflection control of the electron beam B in the electronic optical lens barrel 2, and the irradiation control unit 7 applies the electron beam B at a required position of the mask M."; Kamikubo teaches dividing the writing into a plurality of stripes 52 i.e. regions in Kamikubo [0061] "FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of writing with the electron beam 200. As shown in FIG. 2, a writing region 51 on the mask M is divided into a plurality of stripes 52. Writing with the electron beam B is repeated for each stripe 52 while the stage 3 continuously moves in one direction, for example in the plus or minus X-direction. The stripes 52 is further divided into a plurality of sub-deflection regions 53, and the electron beam B writes only the necessary internal portions of each sub-deflection region 53."),
“and controlling, by a controller, the drawing on the plurality of regions by the drawer, based on the data for the plurality of regions transferred from the operator,” (Kamikubo teaches an irradiation control unit 7 i.e. controller which performs shaping and deflection control of an electron beam B i.e. it controls drawing on the plurality of regions based on data transferred from the control unit 10 i.e. operator in Kamikubo [0060] "The irradiation control unit 7 confirms the position of the stage 3 measured by the stage position measuring unit 12 based on the pattern writing data input from the control unit 10 and meanwhile performs shaping control and deflection control of the electron beam B in the electronic optical lens barrel 2, and the irradiation control unit 7 applies the electron beam B at a required position of the mask M."), and
“when performing the drawing on a first region and then performing the drawing is on a second region, the controller corrects a state of the drawer between completion of drawing on the first region and completion of transfer of the data for the second region or (Kamikubo teaches that drift correction may occur after completion of of a first stripe i.e. region in Kamikubo [0114-0115] "After the first stripe is written and the writing reaches the stripe end of the first stripe, whether or not the drift amount is measured is determined in the process (6). When the measurement is performed, the flow proceeds to the process (7). More specifically, the irradiation position of the electron beam B is moved to the reference mark. Then, the position of the reference mark is scanned with the electron beam B to detect the position, and thus, to measure the drift amount in a drift amount measuring unit 14. Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated."; Kamikubo teaches calculating a drift correction value and writing the second stripe i.e. region using the corrected pattern writing data in Kamikubo [0115-0117] "Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated. The pattern writing data generated in a stripe generation unit 19 is data of a design value. Thus, the pattern writing data of the design value and the data of the correction value from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15 are added and combined by an adding calculator 16. According to this constitution, the pattern writing data of the design value is rewritten, and the pattern writing data in which the beam drift amount is corrected is obtained. Subsequently, the second stripe is written based on the corrected pattern writing data (process (5)).").
Kamikubo does not appear to explicitly teach “wherein: the controller predicts a charge amount of the substrate based on the data for irradiating the plurality of regions,”, “predicts a position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted charge amount,”, and “and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted position, and”. However, Nomura does teach these claim limitations.
Nomura teaches “wherein: the controller predicts a charge amount of the substrate based on the data for irradiating the plurality of regions,” (Nomura teaches a pattern distribution arithmetic step that divides the writing region and calculates a pattern density in Nomura [0042] "In the pattern density distribution arithmetic step (step S100), the pattern density distribution calculation unit 31 reads out writing data of an evaluation pattern from the storage device 140, virtually divides the writing region (or the frame regions) in a mesh-like manner so as to have a predetermined mesh size (grid dimensions), and calculates, on a mesh region basis (a charging effect correction mesh region basis), a pattern density p representing the arrangement ratio of a shape pattern defined in the writing data. A pattern density distribution p(x, y) on a mesh region basis is then generated."; Nomura teaches a charge calculation step in Nomura [0050] "In the charge amount distribution calculation step (step S108), the charge amount distribution calculation unit 35 calculates a charge amount distribution C(x, y) using the irradiation amount distribution E, the fogging electron amount distribution F, and a charge decay amount over time."; Nomura teaches that charge decay amounts are dependent on pattern density i.e. the charge calculation is based on the data for irradiating the regions in Nomura [0058] "Moreover, charge decay amounts kE(p) and kF(p) used in Eqs. (6) and (8) and dependent on the pattern density p can be approximated as, for example, the following Eqs. (9) and (10). In this case, Eqs. (9) and (10) are quadratic functions; however, the equations are not limited thereto and may be higher-order or lower-order functions."; ),
“predicts a position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted charge amount,” (Nomura teaches after the charge calculation step, it performs a position shift based on the charge distribution in Nomura [0063] "In the position shift distribution calculation step (step S110), the position shift distribution calculation unit 38 (a position shift calculation unit) calculates a position shift based on the charge amount distribution. Specifically, the position shift distribution calculation unit 38 calculates a position shift P of a writing position (x, y) due to the charge amount at each position (x, y) of the charge amount distribution C(x, y) by convolving the charge amount distribution calculated in step S108 with a response function r(x, y)."), and
“and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted position, and” (Nomura teaches after the position shift distribution calculation step, it corrects the irradiation position using the position shift calculated in S110 in Nomura [0067] "In the deflection position correction step (step S112) (a position shift correction step), the position shift correction unit 42 corrects the irradiation position using the position shift calculated in step S110. In this case, the shot data for each position is corrected. Specifically, to the shot data for each position (x, y), a correction value for correcting the position shift represented by the position shift map Pi(x, y) is added.").
Kamikubo and Nomura are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo and Nomura before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura because adding the Charged particle beam writing method of Nomura would allow for beam shift correction with high accuracy as described Nomura [0011] “According to the present invention, a beam irradiation position shift caused by charging phenomena can be corrected with high accuracy.”

Claim 20:
Kamikubo teaches “A method of manufacturing a plate, the method comprising: transferring, from an operator, a data for irradiating a plurality of regions on a substrate with a beam of a drawer when a pattern is drawn on the plurality of regions with the beam;” (Kamikubo teaches a control unit 10 i.e. operator which provides an irradiation control unit 7 with pattern writing data in Kamikubo [0060] "The irradiation control unit 7 confirms the position of the stage 3 measured by the stage position measuring unit 12 based on the pattern writing data input from the control unit 10 and meanwhile performs shaping control and deflection control of the electron beam B in the electronic optical lens barrel 2, and the irradiation control unit 7 applies the electron beam B at a required position of the mask M."; Kamikubo teaches dividing the writing into a plurality of stripes 52 i.e. regions in Kamikubo [0061] "FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of writing with the electron beam 200. As shown in FIG. 2, a writing region 51 on the mask M is divided into a plurality of stripes 52. Writing with the electron beam B is repeated for each stripe 52 while the stage 3 continuously moves in one direction, for example in the plus or minus X-direction. The stripes 52 is further divided into a plurality of sub-deflection regions 53, and the electron beam B writes only the necessary internal portions of each sub-deflection region 53."),
“controlling, by a controller, the drawing on the plurality of regions by the drawer, based on the data for the plurality of regions transferred from the operator;” (Kamikubo teaches an irradiation control unit 7 i.e. controller which performs shaping and deflection control of an electron beam B i.e. it controls drawing on the plurality of regions based on data transferred from the control unit 10 i.e. operator in Kamikubo [0060] "The irradiation control unit 7 confirms the position of the stage 3 measured by the stage position measuring unit 12 based on the pattern writing data input from the control unit 10 and meanwhile performs shaping control and deflection control of the electron beam B in the electronic optical lens barrel 2, and the irradiation control unit 7 applies the electron beam B at a required position of the mask M."),
“and manufacturing a plate from a substrate on which the pattern is drawn by the beam,” (Kamikubo teaches writing a pattern to a substrate i.e. manufacturing a plate from a substrate on which the pattern is drawn by the beam in Kamikubo [0042-0043] "FIG. 1 shows an electron beam writing apparatus, which applies an electron beam B to a surface of a mask M and writes a desired pattern. The electron beam writing apparatus is provided with a writing chamber 1 and an electronic optical lens barrel 2 which is an electron beam irradiation device provided upright on a ceiling portion of the writing chamber 1. A stage 3 is arranged in the writing chamber 1. A mask M is mounted on the stage 3. The mask M is one example of a sample to be written by the electron beam, for example, a glass substrate, a chromium (Cr) film as a light shielding film on the glass substrate, and a resist film on the light shielding film."), and
“wherein when performing the drawing on a first region and then performing the drawing on a second region, the controller corrects a state of the drawer between completion of drawing on the first region and completion of transfer of the data for the second region or (Kamikubo teaches that drift correction may occur after completion of of a first stripe i.e. region in Kamikubo [0114-0115] "After the first stripe is written and the writing reaches the stripe end of the first stripe, whether or not the drift amount is measured is determined in the process (6). When the measurement is performed, the flow proceeds to the process (7). More specifically, the irradiation position of the electron beam B is moved to the reference mark. Then, the position of the reference mark is scanned with the electron beam B to detect the position, and thus, to measure the drift amount in a drift amount measuring unit 14. Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated."; Kamikubo teaches calculating a drift correction value and writing the second stripe i.e. region using the corrected pattern writing data in Kamikubo [0115-0117] "Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated. The pattern writing data generated in a stripe generation unit 19 is data of a design value. Thus, the pattern writing data of the design value and the data of the correction value from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15 are added and combined by an adding calculator 16. According to this constitution, the pattern writing data of the design value is rewritten, and the pattern writing data in which the beam drift amount is corrected is obtained. Subsequently, the second stripe is written based on the corrected pattern writing data (process (5)).").
Kamikubo does not appear to explicitly teach “wherein: the controller predicts a charge amount of the substrate based on the data for irradiating the plurality of regions,”, “predicts a position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted charge amount,”, and “and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted position, and”. However, Nomura does teach these claim limitations.
Nomura teaches “wherein: the controller predicts a charge amount of the substrate based on the data for irradiating the plurality of regions,” (Nomura teaches a pattern distribution arithmetic step that divides the writing region and calculates a pattern density in Nomura [0042] "In the pattern density distribution arithmetic step (step S100), the pattern density distribution calculation unit 31 reads out writing data of an evaluation pattern from the storage device 140, virtually divides the writing region (or the frame regions) in a mesh-like manner so as to have a predetermined mesh size (grid dimensions), and calculates, on a mesh region basis (a charging effect correction mesh region basis), a pattern density p representing the arrangement ratio of a shape pattern defined in the writing data. A pattern density distribution p(x, y) on a mesh region basis is then generated."; Nomura teaches a charge calculation step in Nomura [0050] "In the charge amount distribution calculation step (step S108), the charge amount distribution calculation unit 35 calculates a charge amount distribution C(x, y) using the irradiation amount distribution E, the fogging electron amount distribution F, and a charge decay amount over time."; Nomura teaches that charge decay amounts are dependent on pattern density i.e. the charge calculation is based on the data for irradiating the regions in Nomura [0058] "Moreover, charge decay amounts kE(p) and kF(p) used in Eqs. (6) and (8) and dependent on the pattern density p can be approximated as, for example, the following Eqs. (9) and (10). In this case, Eqs. (9) and (10) are quadratic functions; however, the equations are not limited thereto and may be higher-order or lower-order functions."),
“predicts a position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted charge amount,” (Nomura teaches after the charge calculation step, it performs a position shift based on the charge distribution in Nomura [0063] "In the position shift distribution calculation step (step S110), the position shift distribution calculation unit 38 (a position shift calculation unit) calculates a position shift based on the charge amount distribution. Specifically, the position shift distribution calculation unit 38 calculates a position shift P of a writing position (x, y) due to the charge amount at each position (x, y) of the charge amount distribution C(x, y) by convolving the charge amount distribution calculated in step S108 with a response function r(x, y)."), and
“and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam based on the predicted position, and” (Nomura teaches after the position shift distribution calculation step, it corrects the irradiation position using the position shift calculated in S110 in Nomura [0067] "In the deflection position correction step (step S112) (a position shift correction step), the position shift correction unit 42 corrects the irradiation position using the position shift calculated in step S110. In this case, the shot data for each position is corrected. Specifically, to the shot data for each position (x, y), a correction value for correcting the position shift represented by the position shift map Pi(x, y) is added.").
Kamikubo and Nomura are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo and Nomura before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura because adding the Charged particle beam writing method of Nomura would allow for beam shift correction with high accuracy as described Nomura [0011] “According to the present invention, a beam irradiation position shift caused by charging phenomena can be corrected with high accuracy.”

Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamikubo (US20130334442A1), in view of Nomura et al. (US20230102923A1), further in view of Yamada (US20220367143A1).

Claim 6:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of Claim 1,” as described above. Kamikubo and Nomura do not appear to explicitly teach “wherein: the controller includes a determiner configured to determine whether the transfer of the data for the second region is incomplete when the drawing on the first region is completed,” or “and the controller corrects the state of the drawer before the drawing on the second region is started when the determiner determines that the transfer of the data for the second region is incomplete while the drawing on the first region is completed.” However, Yamada does teach these claim limitations.
Yamada teaches “wherein: the controller includes a determiner configured to determine whether the transfer of the data for the second region is incomplete when the drawing on the first region is completed,” (Yamada teaches that the occurrence of an event and interruption time may be known in Yamada [0076] "In the embodiment, an example has been described where dummy irradiation is performed at predetermined timings regardless of the presence or absence of an event. However, when occurrence of an event and an interruption time can be known, the dummy irradiation instructor 53 may calculate an electric discharge amount during writing suspension to determine the error from the calculated value of drift amount, and may determine the irradiation time of dummy irradiation from the magnitude of the error. The dummy irradiation for the determined irradiation time may be performed at one time or performed over multiple times."; Yamada teaches that an event may be a writing temporary suspension operation such as waiting for data transfer i.e. Yamada may determine whether writing has been suspended because the data transfer is incomplete in Yamada [0071] "The amount of drift calculated by the drift corrector 52 has a large difference from the actual amount of drift because electric discharge is performed during a time due to an event such as a subsequent unexpected writing interruption operation (a writing temporary suspension operation such as waiting for data transfer, stage waiting), the time being not used for calculation of the amount of drift. FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a calculated value of a drift amount, an actual amount of drift, and an accumulated value of errors when events occur. It is seen that the accumulated value of errors started to increase by triggering events occurred at times T1, T2, T3."), and
“and the controller corrects the state of the drawer before the drawing on the second region is started when the determiner determines that the transfer of the data for the second region is incomplete while the drawing on the first region is completed.” (Yamada teaches when an event i.e. writing suspended because data transfer is incomplete is known, dimmy irradiation instructor 53 may determine the error during writing suspension i.e. it corrects the state of the drawer in Yamada [0076] "In the embodiment, an example has been described where dummy irradiation is performed at predetermined timings regardless of the presence or absence of an event. However, when occurrence of an event and an interruption time can be known, the dummy irradiation instructor 53 may calculate an electric discharge amount during writing suspension to determine the error from the calculated value of drift amount, and may determine the irradiation time of dummy irradiation from the magnitude of the error. The dummy irradiation for the determined irradiation time may be performed at one time or performed over multiple times.").
Kamikubo, Nomura, and Yamada are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo, Nomura, and Yamada before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo modified to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura to include the correction during an event of Yamamura because adding the Charged particle beam writing apparatus of Yamada would reduce the difference between the calculated drift and actual drift as described Yamada [0017] “According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the difference between the calculated amount of drift and the actual amount of drift.” And in Yamada [0075-0076] “In this manner, according to the present embodiment, multiple pieces of shot data in a specific interval are referred to, and the amount of drift is calculated using the accumulated number of shots, the beam size averaged in the interval, the beam deflection position (deflection direction), the accumulated times of beam ON and OFF in the interval, thus it is possible to perform drift correction with high accuracy while reducing the amount of calculation. In addition, it is possible to reduce the difference between the calculated amount of drift and the actual amount of drift, and to improve the accuracy of writing by performing dummy irradiation at predetermined timings. In the embodiment, an example has been described where dummy irradiation is performed at predetermined timings regardless of the presence or absence of an event. However, when occurrence of an event and an interruption time can be known, the dummy irradiation instructor 53 may calculate an electric discharge amount during writing suspension to determine the error from the calculated value of drift amount, and may determine the irradiation time of dummy irradiation from the magnitude of the error. The dummy irradiation for the determined irradiation time may be performed at one time or performed over multiple times.”

Claim 16:
The limitations of claim 16 are substantially the same as claim 6 and it is rejected for the same reasons.

Claims 7, 11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamikubo (US20130334442A1), in view of Nomura et al. (US20230102923A), further in view of Yamamura et al. (JP2012043988A) (citations to examiner provided translation).

Claim 7:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of claim 1,” as described above. Kamikubo and Nomura do not appear to explicitly teach “wherein: the controller includes a determiner configured to determine whether the data for the second region satisfies a predetermined condition,” or “and the controller corrects the state of the drawer before the drawing on the second region is started when the determiner determines that the data for the second region satisfies the predetermined condition.” However, Yamamura does teach these claim limitations.
Yamamura teaches “wherein: the controller includes a determiner configured to determine whether the data for the second region satisfies a predetermined condition,” (Yamamura teaches determining whether to perform beam drift correction based on the density ratio difference between shots in Yamamura [0033] "In the correction determination step (S106), the determination unit 52 reads and inputs information on the predicted drawing time of the next stripe and the designated time (correction time) for the next beam drift correction from the memory 54, and determines whether or not beam drift correction is necessary using the information on the predicted drawing time of the next stripe and the designated time for the next beam drift correction. The timing of the judgment is preferably before the start of drawing of each stripe, that is, when drawing of the stripe immediately preceding the relevant stripe is completed. Alternatively, it is also suitable to make the judgment when a beam of a shot is irradiated in which the density ratio (density difference) between shots fluctuates by a larger amount than a specified value, when the number of shots exceeds a specified value, or immediately before the number of shots exceeds a specified value."), and
“and the controller corrects the state of the drawer before the drawing on the second region is started when the determiner determines that the data for the second region satisfies the predetermined condition.” (Yamamura teaches that if correction is determined to be necessary, it proceeds to the drawing pause step and then the drift correction step i.e. before starting drawing of the second region in Yamamura [0037-0039] "If it is determined in the correction necessity determining step (S106) that beam drift correction is necessary, the process proceeds to the drawing temporary stop step (S108). On the other hand, if it is determined that beam drift correction is not necessary, the process proceeds to the next stripe drawing step (S130).In the drawing pause step (S108), if it is determined in the correction presence/absence determination step (S106) that beam drift correction is necessary, the drawing operation processing unit 56 pauses the drawing process when the drawing process of the currently drawn stripe is completed. The pause information is output to the event processing unit 30. In the drift correction step (S110), when it is determined that beam drift correction is necessary, the correction unit 40 performs the beam drift correction while the writing process is temporarily stopped.").
Kamikubo, Nomura, and Yamamura are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo, Nomura, and Yamamura before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo modified to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura, to include the determination of whether to perform beam drift correction based on the density difference of shot data of Yamamura because adding the Charged particle beam drawing device of Yamamura would prevent the drawing process from proceeding to the next unit area with a correction value that is out of alignment as described Yamamura [0012-0014] “According to this configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not beam drift correction is necessary using information on the predicted writing time for the next writing unit area and the correction timing for the next beam drift correction. Therefore, correction can be made at an appropriate time. Furthermore, when it is determined that beam drift correction is necessary, the correction unit preferably performs the beam drift correction before the time for the next beam drift correction arrives. Preferably, the correction unit performs the beam drift correction before starting writing of a writing unit area that is scheduled to be written at the next correction timing of the beam drift correction.” and in Yamamura [0017] “According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the drawing process of the next unit area for drawing from proceeding with a correction value that may be out of alignment.”

Claim 11:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura, further in view of Yamamura teaches “The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the determiner determines whether a number of figures included in the data for the second region satisfies the predetermined condition.” (Yamamura teaches determining whether to perform beam drift correction based on the predicted drawing time of the next stripe i.e. the number of figures in the next stripe would affect the predicted drawing time in Yamamura [0033] "In the correction determination step (S106), the determination unit 52 reads and inputs information on the predicted drawing time of the next stripe and the designated time (correction time) for the next beam drift correction from the memory 54, and determines whether or not beam drift correction is necessary using the information on the predicted drawing time of the next stripe and the designated time for the next beam drift correction. The timing of the judgment is preferably before the start of drawing of each stripe, that is, when drawing of the stripe immediately preceding the relevant stripe is completed. Alternatively, it is also suitable to make the judgment when a beam of a shot is irradiated in which the density ratio (density difference) between shots fluctuates by a larger amount than a specified value, when the number of shots exceeds a specified value, or immediately before the number of shots exceeds a specified value.").

Claim 17:
The limitations of claim 17 are substantially the same as claim 7 and it is rejected for the same reasons.

Claims 8-9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamikubo (US20130334442A1), in view of Nomura et al. (US20230102923A1), further in view of Matsumoto (US20200135428A1).

Claim 8:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of claim 1,” as described above. Kamikubo and Nomura do not appear to explicitly teach “wherein the controller includes a determiner configured to determine whether the data for the second region satisfies a predetermined condition, and the controller delays completion of the drawing on the first region when the determiner determines that the data for the second region satisfies the predetermined condition.” However, Matsumoto does teach this claim limitation (Matsumoto teaches determining whether a data transfer time is longer than maximum irradiation time i.e. the size of the data may determine whether the data transfer time satisfies the predetermined condition of being longer than maximum irradiation time, and if the data transfer time is longer than the irradiation time, the shot cycle time is based on the data transfer time i.e. completion of the shot cycle is delayed in Matsumoto [0117] "FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of a time chart according to the first embodiment. FIG. 15A shows an example of a data transfer time and a shot time in the high-speed writing mode using all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. In the high-speed writing mode, it is necessary to transfer ON/OFF control signals (shot data) for all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. Moreover, with respect to each shot time, the maximum irradiation time corresponding to the maximum dose modulated based on the maximum dose modulation amount is needed. A shot cycle (time) is set in consideration of the maximum irradiation time and the data transfer time for each shot. FIG. 15A shows the case where the data transfer time is longer than the maximum irradiation time. In that case, the shot cycle is determined based on the data transfer time."

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Kamikubo, Nomura, and Matsumoto are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo, Nomura, and Matsumoto before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo modified to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura to include the determination of data transmission time being longer and adjusting shot cycle time based on the determination of Matsumoto because adding the Multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus of Matsumoto would enable selection of a high-speed writing mode to increase throughput if the user desires as described Matsumoto [0063] “In the first embodiment, it is configured such that a high-speed writing mode emphasizing the throughput even at the cost of the writing accuracy, or a high-accuracy writing mode emphasizing the writing accuracy even at the cost of the throughput can be selected. When performing writing in a high-speed writing mode, all of the p×q multiple beams implemented (mounted) in the writing apparatus 100 are used for the writing. In that case, as described above, so-called blurring and/or positional deviation of an image of the multiple beams may occur due to the Coulomb effect. On the other hand, when performing writing in a high-accuracy writing mode, a part of the p×q multiple beams implemented/mounted in the writing apparatus 100, which is obtained by restricting usable beam arrays, are used for the writing. It should be understood that the term “all of the multiple beams” herein does not include defective beams whose dose is difficult to control because of failure of the control circuit 41, etc., and, thus, indicates all of usable beam arrays.”

Claim 9:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura, further in view of Matsumoto teaches “The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller corrects the state of the drawer before starting of drawing on the second region,” (Kamikubo teaches that drift correction may occur after completion of a first stripe i.e. region in Kamikubo [0114-0115] "After the first stripe is written and the writing reaches the stripe end of the first stripe, whether or not the drift amount is measured is determined in the process (6). When the measurement is performed, the flow proceeds to the process (7). More specifically, the irradiation position of the electron beam B is moved to the reference mark. Then, the position of the reference mark is scanned with the electron beam B to detect the position, and thus, to measure the drift amount in a drift amount measuring unit 14. Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated."; Kamikubo teaches calculating a drift correction value and writing the second stripe i.e. region using the corrected pattern writing data in Kamikubo [0115-0117] "Then, a drift correction value is calculated in a drift correction amount calculating unit 15 based on the measured drift amount (process (8)). Since the memory 11 stores correction coefficients, the information is retrieved from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15, and a correction value corresponding to the drift amount is calculated. The pattern writing data generated in a stripe generation unit 19 is data of a design value. Thus, the pattern writing data of the design value and the data of the correction value from the drift correction amount calculating unit 15 are added and combined by an adding calculator 16. According to this constitution, the pattern writing data of the design value is rewritten, and the pattern writing data in which the beam drift amount is corrected is obtained. Subsequently, the second stripe is written based on the corrected pattern writing data (process (5))."), and
“and delays the completion of drawing on the first region when the determiner determines that the data for the second region satisfies the predetermined condition.” (Matsumoto teaches determining whether a data transfer time is longer than maximum irradiation time i.e. the size of the data determines whether the data transfer time satisfies the predetermined condition of being longer than maximum irradiation time, and if the data transfer time is longer than the irradiation time, the shot cycle time is based on the data transfer time i.e. completion of the shot cycle is delayed in Matsumoto [0117] "FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of a time chart according to the first embodiment. FIG. 15A shows an example of a data transfer time and a shot time in the high-speed writing mode using all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. In the high-speed writing mode, it is necessary to transfer ON/OFF control signals (shot data) for all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. Moreover, with respect to each shot time, the maximum irradiation time corresponding to the maximum dose modulated based on the maximum dose modulation amount is needed. A shot cycle (time) is set in consideration of the maximum irradiation time and the data transfer time for each shot. FIG. 15A shows the case where the data transfer time is longer than the maximum irradiation time. In that case, the shot cycle is determined based on the data transfer time.").

Claim 18:
The limitations of claim 18 are substantially the same as claim 8 and it is rejected for the same reasons.

Claims 10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamikubo (US20130334442A1), in view of Nomura et al. (US20230102923A1), further in view of Yamamura et al. (JP2012043988A) (citations to examiner provided translation), further in view of Matsumoto (US20200135428A1).

Claim 10:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura, further in view of Yamamura teaches “The apparatus of claim 7,” as described above. None of Kamikubo, Nomura, or Yamamura appear to explicitly teach “wherein the determiner determines whether a volume of the data for the second region satisfies the predetermined condition.” However, Matsumoto does teach this claim limitation (Matsumoto teaches determining whether a data transfer time is longer than maximum irradiation time i.e. the volume of the data may determine whether the data transfer time satisfies the predetermined condition of being longer than maximum irradiation time in Matsumoto [0117] "FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of a time chart according to the first embodiment. FIG. 15A shows an example of a data transfer time and a shot time in the high-speed writing mode using all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. In the high-speed writing mode, it is necessary to transfer ON/OFF control signals (shot data) for all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. Moreover, with respect to each shot time, the maximum irradiation time corresponding to the maximum dose modulated based on the maximum dose modulation amount is needed. A shot cycle (time) is set in consideration of the maximum irradiation time and the data transfer time for each shot. FIG. 15A shows the case where the data transfer time is longer than the maximum irradiation time. In that case, the shot cycle is determined based on the data transfer time.").
Kamikubo, Nomura, Yamamura, and Matsumoto are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo, Nomura, Yamamura, and Matsumoto before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo modified to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura, further modified to include the determination of whether to perform beam drift correction based on the density difference of shot data of Yamamura, to include the determination of whether a data transfer time is longer than a maximum irradiation time of Matsumoto because adding the Multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus of Matsumoto would enable selection of a high-speed writing mode to increase throughput if the user desires as described Matsumoto [0063] “In the first embodiment, it is configured such that a high-speed writing mode emphasizing the throughput even at the cost of the writing accuracy, or a high-accuracy writing mode emphasizing the writing accuracy even at the cost of the throughput can be selected. When performing writing in a high-speed writing mode, all of the p×q multiple beams implemented (mounted) in the writing apparatus 100 are used for the writing. In that case, as described above, so-called blurring and/or positional deviation of an image of the multiple beams may occur due to the Coulomb effect. On the other hand, when performing writing in a high-accuracy writing mode, a part of the p×q multiple beams implemented/mounted in the writing apparatus 100, which is obtained by restricting usable beam arrays, are used for the writing. It should be understood that the term “all of the multiple beams” herein does not include defective beams whose dose is difficult to control because of failure of the control circuit 41, etc., and, thus, indicates all of usable beam arrays.”

Claim 12:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura, further in view of Yamamura, further in view of Matsumoto teaches “The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the determiner determines whether a wait time before the completion of transfer of the data for the second region satisfies the predetermined condition.” (Matsumoto teaches determining whether a data transfer time is longer than maximum irradiation time i.e. it determines whether the transfer time is longer than a predetermined condition in Matsumoto [0117] "FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of a time chart according to the first embodiment. FIG. 15A shows an example of a data transfer time and a shot time in the high-speed writing mode using all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. In the high-speed writing mode, it is necessary to transfer ON/OFF control signals (shot data) for all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. Moreover, with respect to each shot time, the maximum irradiation time corresponding to the maximum dose modulated based on the maximum dose modulation amount is needed. A shot cycle (time) is set in consideration of the maximum irradiation time and the data transfer time for each shot. FIG. 15A shows the case where the data transfer time is longer than the maximum irradiation time. In that case, the shot cycle is determined based on the data transfer time.").

Claims 13-14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kamikubo (US20130334442A1), in view of Nomura et al. (US20230102923A1), further in view of Nishimura (US20180122616A1), further in view of Matsumoto (US20200135428A1).

Claim 13:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura teaches “The apparatus of claim 1,” as described above. Kamikubo and Nomura do not appear to explicitly teach “wherein: the controller includes a drawing operation corrector configured to predict a drawing operation of the drawer based on the data for the plurality of regions, and to correct the drawing operation of the drawer based on a prediction result of the drawing operation,” However, Nishimura does teach this claim limitation (Nishimura teaches correcting the deflection position of the electron beam according to the number of shots to be shot in a region i.e. it predicts the drawing operation and corrects drawing operation based on the data in Nishimura [0083-0084] "In the deflection position correcting step (S202), first, the deflection control circuit 130 receives shot data transmitted from the storage device 144. Then, the deflection position correcting unit 132 corrects the deflection position of the electron beam 200 to be shot in the deflection region concerned, according to the number of shots (shot density) to be shot in the deflection region. Specifically, it operates as follows: The deflection position correcting unit 132 specifies, for each shot figure, an SF 30 corresponding to the deflection position defined in the shot data. Then, the deflection position correcting unit 132 corrects the deflection position (sub deflection position) of the shot figure defined in the shot data concerned, using change amount data on the deflection region shape in the SF 30 concerned. The change amount data of the shape of the deflection region in SF 30 specifies only deflection region shape (outer frame). Therefore, the deflection position of the shot figure in the SF 30 should be linearly interpolated depending on the deflection position in the SF 30, using the change amount of the deflection region shape (outer frame) of the SF 30. Then, correction can be achieved by shifting coordinates in the direction to correct the deviation amount. Moreover, it is possible to specify the position of the SF 30 concerned in the main deflection region 22 in the case of being deflected to the reference position A of the SF 30 concerned by the main deflector 208, based on a writing sequence controlled by the writing control circuit 62. Therefore, in temporary main deflection regions 22 for each of which the shot density has been calculated, the deflection position (main deflection position) indicating the reference position A of the SF 30 concerned is corrected by using the change amount data of the deflection region shape of the temporary main deflection region 22 where the SF 30 concerned is arranged. Even in such a case, the change amount of the deflection region shape (outer frame) of the temporary main deflection region 22 should be linearly interpolated based on the position of the SF 30 concerned in the main deflection region 22 to be actually written. Then, correction can be achieved by shifting coordinates in the direction to correct the deviation amount. Since the main deflection region 22 varies each moment with advancement of writing, it is also preferable to newly calculate the shot density of the main deflection region 22 concerned at the time of writing the shot figure defined in the shot data concerned, based on the writing sequence controlled by the writing control circuit 62, and to obtain change amount data of the deflection region shape of the main deflection region 22 concerned corresponding to the new shot density. Then, the main deflection position may be corrected in real time based on the change amount data of the deflection region shape of the main deflection region 22 concerned.").
Kamikubo, Nomura, and Nishimura are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo, Nomura, and Nishimura before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo modified to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura to include the correction of deflection position based on shot data density of Nishimura because adding the Charged Particle Beam Writing Apparatus of Nishimura would allow for the deflection position to be corrected in real time as described Nishimura [0084] “Since the main deflection region 22 varies each moment with advancement of writing, it is also preferable to newly calculate the shot density of the main deflection region 22 concerned at the time of writing the shot figure defined in the shot data concerned, based on the writing sequence controlled by the writing control circuit 62, and to obtain change amount data of the deflection region shape of the main deflection region 22 concerned corresponding to the new shot density. Then, the main deflection position may be corrected in real time based on the change amount data of the deflection region shape of the main deflection region 22 concerned.”
None of Kamikubo, Nomura, or Nishimura appear to explicitly teach “and However, Matsumoto does teach this claim limitation (Matsumoto teaches determining whether a data transfer time is longer than maximum irradiation time i.e. the size of the data determines whether the data transfer time satisfies the predetermined condition of being longer than maximum irradiation time, and if the data transfer time is longer than the irradiation time, the shot cycle time is based on the data transfer time i.e. completion of the shot cycle is delayed in Matsumoto [0117] "FIGS. 15A and 15B show examples of a time chart according to the first embodiment. FIG. 15A shows an example of a data transfer time and a shot time in the high-speed writing mode using all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. In the high-speed writing mode, it is necessary to transfer ON/OFF control signals (shot data) for all the beams of the multiple beams 20 implemented to be emittable by the writing mechanism 150. Moreover, with respect to each shot time, the maximum irradiation time corresponding to the maximum dose modulated based on the maximum dose modulation amount is needed. A shot cycle (time) is set in consideration of the maximum irradiation time and the data transfer time for each shot. FIG. 15A shows the case where the data transfer time is longer than the maximum irradiation time. In that case, the shot cycle is determined based on the data transfer time.").
Kamikubo, Nomura, Nishimura, and Matsumoto are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of drawing patterns on substrates. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having teachings of Kamikubo, Nomura, Nishimura, and Matsumoto before him/her, to modify the teachings of a Drift correction method and pattern writing data generation method of Kamikubo modified to include the position shifting based on charge distribution of Nomura, further modified to include the correction of deflection position based on shot data density of Nishimura to include the shot cycle time being based on data transfer time if the data transfer time is longer than maximum irradiation time of Matsumoto because adding the Multi-charged particle beam writing apparatus of Matsumoto would enable selection of a high-speed writing mode to increase throughput if the user desires as described Matsumoto [0063] “In the first embodiment, it is configured such that a high-speed writing mode emphasizing the throughput even at the cost of the writing accuracy, or a high-accuracy writing mode emphasizing the writing accuracy even at the cost of the throughput can be selected. When performing writing in a high-speed writing mode, all of the p×q multiple beams implemented (mounted) in the writing apparatus 100 are used for the writing. In that case, as described above, so-called blurring and/or positional deviation of an image of the multiple beams may occur due to the Coulomb effect. On the other hand, when performing writing in a high-accuracy writing mode, a part of the p×q multiple beams implemented/mounted in the writing apparatus 100, which is obtained by restricting usable beam arrays, are used for the writing. It should be understood that the term “all of the multiple beams” herein does not include defective beams whose dose is difficult to control because of failure of the control circuit 41, etc., and, thus, indicates all of usable beam arrays.”

Claim 14:
Kamikubo in view of Nomura, further in view of Nishimura, further in view of Matsumoto teaches “The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the drawing operation corrector predicts and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam by the drawer in the drawing operation of the drawer.” (Nishimura teaches shifting coordinates in order to correct the deviation amount i.e. it predicts the drawing operation and corrects the position to be irradiated with the beam in Nishimura [0083-0084] "In the deflection position correcting step (S202), first, the deflection control circuit 130 receives shot data transmitted from the storage device 144. Then, the deflection position correcting unit 132 corrects the deflection position of the electron beam 200 to be shot in the deflection region concerned, according to the number of shots (shot density) to be shot in the deflection region. Specifically, it operates as follows: The deflection position correcting unit 132 specifies, for each shot figure, an SF 30 corresponding to the deflection position defined in the shot data. Then, the deflection position correcting unit 132 corrects the deflection position (sub deflection position) of the shot figure defined in the shot data concerned, using change amount data on the deflection region shape in the SF 30 concerned. The change amount data of the shape of the deflection region in SF 30 specifies only deflection region shape (outer frame). Therefore, the deflection position of the shot figure in the SF 30 should be linearly interpolated depending on the deflection position in the SF 30, using the change amount of the deflection region shape (outer frame) of the SF 30. Then, correction can be achieved by shifting coordinates in the direction to correct the deviation amount. Moreover, it is possible to specify the position of the SF 30 concerned in the main deflection region 22 in the case of being deflected to the reference position A of the SF 30 concerned by the main deflector 208, based on a writing sequence controlled by the writing control circuit 62. Therefore, in temporary main deflection regions 22 for each of which the shot density has been calculated, the deflection position (main deflection position) indicating the reference position A of the SF 30 concerned is corrected by using the change amount data of the deflection region shape of the temporary main deflection region 22 where the SF 30 concerned is arranged. Even in such a case, the change amount of the deflection region shape (outer frame) of the temporary main deflection region 22 should be linearly interpolated based on the position of the SF 30 concerned in the main deflection region 22 to be actually written. Then, correction can be achieved by shifting coordinates in the direction to correct the deviation amount. Since the main deflection region 22 varies each moment with advancement of writing, it is also preferable to newly calculate the shot density of the main deflection region 22 concerned at the time of writing the shot figure defined in the shot data concerned, based on the writing sequence controlled by the writing control circuit 62, and to obtain change amount data of the deflection region shape of the main deflection region 22 concerned corresponding to the new shot density. Then, the main deflection position may be corrected in real time based on the change amount data of the deflection region shape of the main deflection region 22 concerned.").

Claim 19:
The limitations of claim 19 are substantially the same as claim 13 and it is rejected for the same reasons.

Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yamaguchi et al. (US20140322833A1) teaches a method of performing beam correction based on the charge of the substrate in Yamaguchi [0056-0058] "In step S305, the main control unit 17 calculates a difference between measured values of the surface positions (surface position B—surface position A) for each position on the XY plane on the substrate 3. The surface position B is a value including an error caused by charge on the surface of the substrate 3, while the surface position A is not affected by the charge. Accordingly, the different between the surface position A and the surface position B is caused by charge on the surface of the substrate 3. Thus, in step S306, the main control unit 17 obtains a measurement error of capacitance equivalent to the difference between the surface positions, and calculates the amount of charge corresponding to the obtained value. By calculating the amount of charge in all areas where surface position measurement has been performed, a charge distribution on the surface of the substrate 3 can be obtained.In step S307, deviation of an orbit of the applied electron beam is obtained based on the charge distribution calculated in step S306. At this time, the main control unit 17 refers to the data indicating the relationship between the amount of charge and the positional deviation of the electron beam previously stored in the memory 18. The data indicating the relationship between the amount of charge and the positional deviation of the electron beam may be data obtained by measurement or data obtained by calculation.In step S308, the main control unit 17 instructs the other control unit to perform drawing while correcting the deviation of the drawing position. The control unit to be instructed by the main control unit 17 is one of the control unit 16 and the control unit 13, or a combination of both. One of specific correction methods is that the control unit 16 moves the stage 4 parallel in a direction for canceling the deviation of the drawing position. Another method is that the control unit 13 controls the electron beam irradiation position by adjusting a voltage of the deflector 2 b after rewriting pattern data of an unirradiated area to cancel the deviation of a drawing position or directly without rewriting the pattern data."

Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/Z.A.C./ Examiner, Art Unit 2116 /KENNETH M LO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2116

Prosecution Timeline

• Mar 06, 2023: Application Filed
• Nov 20, 2025: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112
• Feb 20, 2026: Response Filed
• Apr 24, 2026: Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (current)