Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Akio Misaka

Shinji Odanaka

Yuji Nonami

Shigeo Irie

Masaru Sasago

Hideyuki Arai

Yasuko Tabata

Takayuki Yamada

Kenji Kawakita

Kenji Harafuji

Tetsuya Nakamura

Hiromitsu Hamaguchi

Chika Harada

Noboru Nomura

Takehiro Hirai

Taichi Koizumi

Tadashi Tanimoto

Reiko Hinogami

Yoshimasa Yoshioka

Kenji Harafugi

Masafumi Kubbota

Hiroshi Sakaue

Tadami Shimizu

Minoru Yamagiwa

A photomask includes: a light blocking member provided on a translucent substrate; a main pattern portion provided in a first region corresponding to a desired pattern, being an opening of the light blocking member; and an auxiliary pattern portion provided in a second region surrounding the position corresponding to the desired pattern and along a side constituting an outline portion of the desired pattern, including a plurality of in-phase auxiliary patterns each of which is an opening transmitting in-phase light with light transmitted through the main pattern portion. The in-phase auxiliary pattern is provided at a distance of &#x221a;(2&#xd7;n&#xd7;G&#xd7;&#x3bb;) from the side constituting the outline portion of the desired pattern (where G is a gap length between the photomask and the exposed body, &#x3bb; is a wavelength of the exposure light, and n is a natural number). The exposure light transmitted through the auxiliary pattern portion is projected on an exposed body to form a projection image having light intensity emphasized at the side constituting the outline portion of the desired pattern.

Photomask, and method for creating pattern data thereof, and pattern forming method and processing method using photomask

A photomask includes a transparent substrate, and a light shield provided to the transparent substrate. The light shield includes a translucent mask pattern opening, and the mask pattern opening includes a plurality of translucent regions which are provided to a periphery of a region corresponding to a desired pattern, and allow exposure light beams to be transmitted at at least three different phases. Each of the plurality of translucent region spaced apart from the region corresponding to the desired pattern, advances more toward an exposure object spaced a predetermined distance apart compared to a phase plane of an exposure light beam transmitted through a translucent region of the plurality of translucent regions, the translucent region close to the region corresponding to the desired pattern, such that the exposure light beams that are transmitted through the mask pattern opening form a projection image of the desired pattern on the exposure object.

Photomask and pattern forming method using photomask

An opening width of a main pattern is a width with which a transcription pattern is formed on a target member to be exposed by transmitted exposure light, and is a dimension of 0.8&#xd7;(&#x3bb;/NA)&#xd7;M or less (where &#x3bb; is a wavelength of the exposure light, and NA and M are a numerical aperture and a reduction ratio of a reduced projection optical system of an exposure apparatus). Each of a first auxiliary pattern adjacent to the main pattern and a second auxiliary pattern located outside the first auxiliary pattern to be adjacent thereto has a width with which a transcription pattern is not formed by the exposure light and generates diffracted light. A first distance between respective centers of the main pattern and the first auxiliary pattern is greater than a second distance between respective centers of the first auxiliary pattern and the second auxiliary pattern.

Photo mask and method for forming pattern using the same

A photomask includes a translucent substrate; and a light-shielding film formed on the translucent substrate, and including a light-shielding portion and an opening which serves as a translucent region. A plurality of recesses are formed in a region of the translucent substrate, which is exposed from the opening. Widths of the plurality of recesses gradually increase with an increase in distances from a focal point so that light transmitted by the plurality of recesses is focused in a predetermined position.

Photomask, and pattern formation method and exposure apparatus using the photomask

A semiconductor device includes: a plurality of line features including at least one real feature which includes a gate electrode portion, and at least one dummy feature. Two of multiple ones of the dummy feature, and at least one of the line features interposed between the two dummy features and including the at least one real feature form parallel running line features which are evenly spaced. The parallel running line features have an identical width, and line end portions of the parallel running line features are substantially flush. Line end portion uniformization dummy features are formed on extensions of the line end portions of the parallel running line features. The line end portion uniformization dummy features include a plurality of linear features each having a same width as each of the line features and spaced at intervals equal to an interval between each adjacent pair of the line features.

Semiconductor device and layout design method for the same

A semiconductor device includes a circuit portion including at least one real feature, and a plurality of dummy feature groups each including a plurality of dummy features spaced apart from each other by a first distance. The plurality of dummy feature groups are spaced apart from each other by a second distance larger than the first distance, and the circuit portion and the plurality of dummy feature groups are spaced apart from each other by the second distance.

Semiconductor device, mask for fabrication of semiconductor device, and optical proximity correction method

A photomask includes a transparent substrate having a transparent property against exposing light, a semi-light-shielding portion formed on the transparent substrate, a first opening formed in the semi-light-shielding portion and having a first dimension and a second opening formed in the semi-light-shielding portion and having a second dimension lager than the first dimension. A phase-shifting portion which transmits the exposing light in an opposite phase with respect to the first opening is formed on the transparent substrate around the first opening. A light-shielding portion is formed on the transparent substrate around the second opening.

Photomask and pattern formation method using the same

First, multiple circuit patterns, which will eventually make an LSI, are designed on a cell-by-cell basis, and an initial placement is made for the circuit patterns designed. Next, optical proximity corrections are performed on at least two of the circuit patterns that have been initially placed to be adjacent to or cross each other, thereby forming optical proximity corrected patterns out of the adjacent or crossing circuit patterns. Then, it is determined whether or not optical proximity corrections can be performed effectively using the corrected patterns. If the effectiveness of the corrections is negated, a design rule defining the circuit patterns is changed to make the corrections effective. Thereafter, the initially placed circuit patterns are placed again in accordance with the design rule changed.

Changing a design rule for forming LSI pattern based on evaluating effectiveness of optical proximity corrected patterns

A photomask includes a transparent substrate having a transparent property against exposing light and a halftone portion formed on the transparent substrate. In the halftone portion, a first opening having a first dimension and a second opening having a second dimension larger than the first dimension are formed. A light-shielding portion is formed on the transparent substrate to be disposed around the second opening.

A photomask includes: a transparent substrate having a transparent property against exposing light; a first light-shielding pattern formed on the transparent substrate and having a first dimension; a second light-shielding pattern formed on the transparent substrate and having a second dimension larger than the first dimension; and an opening provided in part of the transparent substrate where the first light-shielding pattern and the second light-shielding pattern are not formed. The first light-shielding pattern includes a first semi-light-shielding portion and an auxiliary pattern which is arranged within the first semi-light-shielding portion and allows the exposing light to pass through in an opposite phase with respect to the first semi-light-shielding portion. The second light-shielding pattern includes a second semi-light-shielding portion and a light-shielding portion which does not substantially allow the exposing light to pass through.

A mask pattern including a light-shielding portionand a semi-light-shielding portionis provided on a transparent substratehaving a transparent property against exposing light so as to be surrounded with a transparent portion. The semi-light-shielding portionis disposed in an outer region of the mask pattern and partially transmits the exposing light in an identical phase to the exposing light passing through the transparent portion

Photomask, photomask fabrication method, pattern formation method using the photomask and mask data creation method

A patternprovided on a transparent substrateas a mask pattern includes partial patternsA andB. Each of the partial patternsA andB has a mask enhancer structure including a phase shifterfor transmitting exposing light in an opposite phase with respect to a transparent portion and a shielding portionsurrounding the phase shifterThe partial patternA is close to other patternsandat distances not larger than a given distance with the transparent portion sandwiched therebetween. The width of the phase shifterA of the partial patternA is smaller than the width of the phase shifterB of the partial patternB.

Photomask

A principal pattern made of a plurality of isolated transparent portions is formed in a light-shielding portion disposed on a transparent substrate having a transparent property against exposing light. The principal pattern includes a first principal pattern and a second principal pattern adjacent to each other at a given distance, and a first auxiliary pattern made of a phase shifter portion for transmitting the exposing light in an opposite phase to the exposing light passing through the transparent portion is formed between the first principal pattern and the second principal pattern.

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Osaka, Japan

Akio Misaka