DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yashima et al. (JP 2009-194062, provided in IDS filed 8/25/2025).
Regarding claim 1, Yashima discloses an electron beam lithography apparatus (a configuration using an electron beam as an example of a charged particle beam will be described, for electron beam lithography system as an example, see paragraph [0017]) comprising:
a density set storage unit that stores, for each of one or more pieces of figure information, a first density set that is a set of piece of first density information corresponding to areas occupied by a figured indicated by the piece of figure information in two or more first small regions divided from a figure region specified by the piece of figure information, and is a set of pieces of first density information for the two or more first small regions (resizing device 300 includes a control computer 30 and a memory 32, control computer 30 includes the functions of area density calculation units 10 and 16, dimension error calculation units 12 and 18, and dimension calculation unites 14, 20, and 24, see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0018]);
a figure information acceptance unit that accepts one or more pieces of figure information (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]):
a density set acquisition unit that acquires first density sets respectively corresponding to the one or more pieces of figure information accepted by the figure information acceptance unit (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]), from the density set storage unit:
a correction amount acquisition unit that acquires correction amounts that are correction amounts corresponding to the one or more first density sets for each of the one or more second small regions (Fig. 5 shows an example of a writing area for a pattern before and after correction, and a pattern after a dimensional change due to a loading effect (e.g. one or more first density sets for the region), see paragraph [0034]);
an emission amount acquisition unit that acquires, for the two or more second small regions, emission amounts of an electron beam with intensities corresponding to the correction amounts for the two or more second small regions acquired by the correction amount acquisition unit (Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension (e.g. emission amounts of electron beam corresponding to the correction amounts inherent), see paragraph [0029]); and
a drawing unit that emits an electron beam to each of the two or more second small regions according to the emission amounts for the two or more second small regions, acquired by the emission amount acquisition unit (electron beam used in an a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus, see paragraph [0017]; Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension, see paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 2, Yashima discloses wherein the density set acquisition unit includes:
a density set readout part that acquires first density sets respectively corresponding to the one or more pieces of figure information accepted by the figure information acceptance unit (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, one pattern 50 is shown as an example, but a plurality of patterns may be arranged within the region 42 (i.e. one or more pieces of figure information regarding density may be available), see paragraph [0022]), from the density set storage unit:
an area change information acquisition part that acquires, for a first small region that matches a bias condition regarding a figure in the first small region, of the two or more first small regions, area change information that is based on the figure in the first small region (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, one pattern 50 is shown as an example, but a plurality of patterns may be arranged within the region 42 (i.e. one or more pieces of figure information regarding density may be available), see paragraph [0022]; Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction (including an inherent bias condition used for the correction), depends on the area density at this second dimension, see paragraph [0029]); and
a density set acquisition part that acquires, for each of the one or more pieces of figure information, a second density set that is a set of pieces of second density information respectively for the one or more first small regions, using the pieces of first density information for the one or more first small regions contained in the first density sets acquired by the density set readout part, and the area change information regarding the one or more first small regions, acquired by the area change information acquisition part (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, one pattern 50 is shown as an example, but a plurality of patterns may be arranged within the region 42 (i.e. one or more pieces of figure information regarding density may be available including second density information), see paragraph [0022]), and
the correction amount acquisition unit uses the one or more second density sets acquired by the density set acquisition part to acquire the correction amounts for the two or more second small regions (Fig. 5 shows an example of a writing area for a pattern before and after correction, and a pattern after a dimensional change due to a loading effect (e.g. one or more first density sets for the region including second regions with second density sets), see paragraph [0034]).
Regarding claim 3, Yashima discloses a differential information unit that stores, for each of one or more pieces of figure information and for each of two or more first small regions, differential information specifying a change in an area per unit amount of bias (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, one pattern 50 is shown as an example, but a plurality of patterns may be arranged within the region 42 (i.e. one or more pieces of figure information regarding density may be available), see paragraph [0022]; Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension (including inherent bias condition used for correction), see paragraph [0029]); and
a bias amount acceptance unit that accepts an amount of bias (determination unit 22 determines a difference between dimensions is within a predetermined range, see paragraph [0035]),
wherein the area change information acquisition part acquires, for the first small region that matches the bias condition, area change information for each of the one or more pieces of figure information, using differential information associated with the first small region and the bias amount accepted by the bias amount acceptance unit (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, one pattern 50 is shown as an example, but a plurality of patterns may be arranged within the region 42 (i.e. one or more pieces of figure information regarding density may be available), see paragraph [0022]; Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension (including inherent bias condition used for correction), see paragraph [0029]; with determination unit 22 determines a difference between dimensions is within a predetermined range, see paragraph [0035]).
Regarding claim 4, Yashima discloses a second preprocessing unit that calculates differential information specifying a change in an area per unit amount of bias for each of the one or more pieces of figure information and for each of the two or more first small regions, and accumulates the differential information in the differential information storage unit (dimension error calculation units 12 and 18 calculate for each region 42, see paragraph [0018]; determination unit 22 determines a difference between dimensions is within a predetermined range, see paragraph [0035]).
Regarding claim 5, Yashima discloses wherein the electron beam lithography apparatus stores a differential information calculation formula for calculating differential information, for each of one or more bias conditions (resizing device 300 includes a control computer 30, a memory 32, and a determination unit 22, see paragraph [0018]; dimension error calculation units 12 and 18 calculate for each region 42, see paragraph [0018]; determination unit 22 determines a difference between dimensions is within a predetermined range, see paragraph [0035]), and
the second preprocessing unit acquires, for each of the one or more pieces of figure information and for each of the two or more first small regions, a differential information calculation formula corresponding to the matching bias condition, calculates differential information using the differential information calculation formula, and accumulates the differential information in the differential information storage unit (dimension error calculation units 12 and 18 calculate for each region 42, see paragraph [0018]; determination unit 22 determines a difference between dimensions is within a predetermined range, see paragraph [0035]).
Regarding claim 6, Yashima discloses wherein the bias condition is that the figure in the first small region includes a horizontal line or a vertical line (Fig. 3 shows a first small region 42 includes a rectangular pattern 50, see paragraph [0022]), and
the area change information acquisition part acquires, with respect to the horizontal or vertical line, area change information indicating a size that is proportional to the bias amount (density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, see paragraph [0022]; a change in size of the region 42 (i.e. 0.5 μm to 1 mm, see paragraph [0022]) changes the proportional bias amount within the region 42).
Regarding claim 7, Yashima discloses wherein the bias condition is that the figure in the first small region includes a diagonal line (rectangular pattern 50 is shown as an example, but the pattern shape is not limited to this, see paragraph [0022]), and
the area change information part acquires the bias amount, angle information regarding an angle of the diagonal line, and length information regarding a length of the diagonal line in the first small region, and calculates the area change information using the bias amount, the angle information, and the length information (density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, see paragraph [0022]; a change in size of the region 42 (i.e. 0.5 μm to 1 mm, see paragraph [0022]) changes the proportional bias amount within the region 42).
Regarding claim 8, Yashima discloses wherein the bias condition is that the figure in the first small region includes a corner formed by an intersection of two straight lines (density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, see paragraph [0022]), and
the area change information acquisition part calculates areas of a parallelogram and two triangles created by extending the two straight lines by a length corresponding to the bias amount, and calculates the area change information, using the three areas (density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, see paragraph [0022]; a change in size of the region 42 (i.e. 0.5 μm to 1 mm, see paragraph [0022]) changes the proportional bias amount within the region 42).
Regarding claim 9, Yashima discloses a first preprocessing unit that acquires, for each of two or more first small regions divided from a figure region that is a region specified by the figure information, first density information that is based on areas occupied by a figure indicated by the figure information, in the two or more first small regions, acquires a first density set that is a set of pieces of first density information, for each piece of figure information, and accumulates the first density set in the density set storage unit (resizing device 300 includes a control computer 30 and a memory 32, control computer 30 includes the functions of area density calculation units 10 and 16, see paragraph [0018]; area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, one pattern 50 is shown as an example, but a plurality of patterns may be arranged within the region 42 (i.e. one or more pieces of figure information regarding density may be available), see paragraph [0022]).
Regarding claim 10, Yashima discloses wherein the drawing unit performs bias processing on the one or more pieces of figure information accepted by the figure information acceptance unit, to acquire information regarding a biased figure (Fig. 5 shows an example of a writing area for a pattern before and after correction, and a pattern after a dimensional change due to a loading effect (e.g. one or more first density sets for the region), see paragraph [0034]),
the emission amount acquisition unit acquires an emission amount of an electron beam for each of the two or more second small regions, using the information regarding the biased figure and the correction amount for the two or more second small regions, acquired by the correction amount acquisition unit (Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed, which is after correction, depends on the area density at this region 42, see paragraph [0029]), and
the drawing unit emits an electron beam to each of the two or more second small regions according to the emission amount for each of the two or more second small regions acquired by the emission amount acquisition unit, to draw a figure (electron beam used in an a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus, see paragraph [0017]; Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, see paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 11, Yashima discloses an electron lithography method (a configuration using an electron beam as an example of a charged particle beam will be described, for electron beam lithography system as an example, see paragraph [0017])) realized using a density set storage unit that stores, for each of one or more pieces of figure information, a first density set that is a set of pieces of first density information corresponding to areas occupied by a figure indicated by the piece of figure information in two or more first small regions divided from a figure region specified by the piece of figure information, and is a set of pieces of first density information for the two or more first small regions (resizing device 300 includes a control computer 30 and a memory 32, control computer 30 includes the functions of area density calculation units 10 and 16, dimension error calculation units 12 and 18, and dimension calculation unites 14, 20, and 24, see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0018]; area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]); a figure information acceptance unit, a density set acquisition unit, and a drawing unit (resizing device 300 includes a control computer 30 and a memory 32, control computer 30 includes the functions of area density calculation units 10 and 16, dimension error calculation units 12 and 18, and dimension calculation unites 14, 20, and 24, see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0018]; electron beam used in an a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus, see paragraph [0017]), the electron lithography method comprising:
a figure information acceptance step in which the figure information acceptance unit accepts one or more pieces of figure information (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]);
a density set acquisition step in which the density set acquisition unit acquires first density sets respectively corresponding to the one or more pieces of figure information accepted by the figure information acceptance unit (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]), from the density set storage unit:
a correction amount acquisition step in which the correction amount acquisition unit acquires correction amounts that are correction amounts corresponding to the one or more first density sets for each of the one or more pieces of figure information, and are correction amounts for the two or more second small regions (Fig. 5 shows an example of a writing area for a pattern before and after correction, and a pattern after a dimensional change due to a loading effect (e.g. one or more first density sets for the region), see paragraph [0034]);
an emission amount acquisition step in which the emission amount acquisition unit acquires, for the two or more second small regions, emission amounts of an electron beam with intensities corresponding to the correction amounts for the two or more second small regions acquired by the correction amount acquisition unit (Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension (e.g. emission amounts of electron beam corresponding to the correction amounts inherent), see paragraph [0029]); and
a drawing step in which the drawing unit emits an electron beam to each of the two or more second small regions according to the emission amounts for the two or more second small regions, acquired by the emission amount acquisition unit (electron beam used in an a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus, see paragraph [0017]; Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension, see paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 12, Yashima discloses a recording medium having recorded thereon a program that enables a computer that can access a density set storage unit that stores (resizing device 300 includes a control computer 30 and a memory 32, to be performed by a combination of hardware and software, see paragraph [0018]), for each of one or more pieces of figure information, a first density set that is a set of pieces of first density information corresponding to areas occupied by a figure indicated by the piece of figure information in two or more first small regions divided from a figure region specified by the piece of figure information, and is a set of pieces of first density information respectively for the two or more first small regions (resizing device 300 includes a control computer 30 and a memory 32, control computer 30 includes the functions of area density calculation units 10 and 16, dimension error calculation units 12 and 18, and dimension calculation unites 14, 20, and 24, see Fig. 1 and paragraph [0018]; area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]), to function as:
a figure information acceptance unit that accepts one or more pieces of figure information (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]);
a density set acquisition unit that acquires first density sets respectively corresponding to the one or more pieces of figure information accepted by the figure information acceptance unit (area density calculation unit 10 virtually divides the drawing area 40 into a plurality of areas 42, where a rectangular pattern 50 is arranged in the region 42, see Fig. 3 and paragraph [0022]), from the density set storage unit:
a correction amount acquisition unit that acquires, for the two or more second small regions, emission amounts of an electron beam with intensities corresponding to the correction amounts for the two or more second small regions acquired by the correction amount acquisition unit (Fig. 5 shows an example of a writing area for a pattern before and after correction, and a pattern after a dimensional change due to a loading effect (e.g. one or more first density sets for the region), see paragraph [0034]);
an emission amount acquisition unit that acquires, for the two or more second small regions, emission amounts of an electron beam with intensities corresponding to the correction amounts for the two or more second small regions acquired by the correction amount acquisition unit Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension (e.g. emission amounts of electron beam corresponding to the correction amounts inherent), see paragraph [0029]); and
a drawing unit that emits an electron beam to each of the two or more second small regions according to the emission amounts for the two or more second small regions, acquired by the emission amount acquisition unit (electron beam used in an a variable shaping type electron beam drawing apparatus, see paragraph [0017]; Fig. 4 shows when drawing is performed with the second dimension, which is the dimension after correction, depends on the area density at this second dimension, see paragraph [0029]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HANWAY CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5766. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM EST.
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Hanway Chang
/HC/ Examiner, Art Unit 2878
/GEORGIA Y EPPS/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2878