	US 7,488,961 B2
	Charged particle beam irradiation method and charged particle beam apparatus
Masashi Muramatsu, Chiba (Japan); Tomokazu Kozakai, Chiba (Japan); and Ryoji Hagiwara, Chiba (Japan)
Assigned to SII NanoTechnology Inc., Chiba (Japan)
Filed on Oct. 25, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/586,232.
Claims priority of application No. 2005-316550 (JP), filed on Oct. 31, 2005.
Prior Publication US 2007/0114462 A1, May 24, 2007
Int. Cl. A61N 5/00 (2006.01); H01J 37/302 (2006.01)

U.S. Cl. 250—492.22 [250/492.2; 250/396 R; 250/398; 250/310]

5 Claims

1. A charged particle beam irradiation method for processing and observing a workpiece by using a charged particle beam apparatus to apply a charged particle beam to a pixel that is a unit area for charged particle beam irradiation comprising the steps of:

setting a process area based on an image obtained by observing the workpiece and determining the positions of representative points that form a contour of the set process area for each pixel with sub-pixel accuracy that is more accurate than a pixel accuracy, the position of each of the representative points being able to be set to either the center position of the pixel or a position displaced therefrom; and

applying the charged particle beam, for the pixels that include the contour of the process area, to the positions of the representative points that form the contour with sub-pixel accuracy.