Hoya Corporation

Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Technology Corp.

Tekscend Photomask Corp.

Hitoshi Maeda

Ryo Ohkubo

Yasutaka Horigome

Osamu Nozawa

Hiroaki Shishido

Yukari Imai

Kazutake Taniguchi

Mari Tsugami

Masahiro Hashimoto

Yoshiyuki Kawashima

Tatsuyoshi Mihara

Hiroki Shinkawata

Yuichi Yokoyama

Yoji Mashiko

Tohru Koyama

Kazuaki Matsui

Yukinori Hirose

Naoto Yonemaru

A mask blank has a structure where a thin film for pattern formation and a hard mask film are stacked in this order on a transparent substrate, featured in that the thin film is formed of a material containing chromium, the hard mask film includes a stacked structure of a lower layer and an upper layer, the lower layer is formed of a material containing silicon and oxygen, the upper layer is formed of a material containing tantalum and oxygen with an oxygen content of 30 atom % or more, and the ratio of a thickness of the upper layer relative to a total thickness of the hard mask film is 0.7 or less.

Mask blank and method of manufacturing photomask

A height of an upper surface of a control gate electrode is lower than a highest position of a lower surface of a silicide layer on a memory gate electrode adjacent to the control gate electrode via an ONO film. As a result, a structure in contact with the ONO film between the control gate electrode and the memory gate electrode is only the control gate electrode and the memory gate electrode made of polysilicon.

Semiconductor device

The phase shift film has a function to transmit an exposure light of a KrF excimer laser at a transmittance of 2% or more, and a function to generate a phase difference of 150 degrees or more and 210 degrees or less between the exposure light transmitted through the phase shift film and the exposure light transmitted through the air for a same distance as a thickness of the phase shift film, in which the phase shift film has a structure where a lower layer and an upper layer are stacked in order from a side of the transparent substrate, in which a refractive index nL of the lower layer at a wavelength of the exposure light and a refractive index nU of the upper layer at a wavelength of the exposure light satisfy a relation of nL&#x3e;nU, in which an extinction coefficient kL of the lower layer at a wavelength of the exposure light and an extinction coefficient kU of the upper layer at a wavelength of the exposure light satisfy a relation of kL&#x3e;kU; and in which a thickness dL of the lower layer and a thickness dU of the upper layer satisfy a relation of dL&#x3c;dU.

Mask blank, phase shift mask, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Gate patterns are formed on a semiconductor layer and a conductive film is formed on the semiconductor layer so as to cover the gate patterns. By performing a polishing process to the conductive film and patterning the polished conductive film, pad layers are formed between the gate patterns via sidewall spacers.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Provided is a mask blank, including a phase shift film. The phase shift film has a structure where a first layer and a second layer are stacked in this order from a side of the transparent substrate. The first layer is provided in contact with a surface of the transparent substrate. Refractive indexes nand nof the first layer and the second layer, respectively, at a wavelength of an exposure light of an ArF excimer laser satisfy the relation n&#x3c;n. Extinction coefficients kand kof the first layer and the second layer, respectively, at a wavelength of the exposure light satisfy the relation k&#x3c;k. Film thicknesses dand dof the first layer and the second layer, respectively, satisfy the relation d&#x3c;d.

Mask blank, phase-shift mask, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

A mask blank in which a phase shift film provided on a light-permeable substrate includes at least a nitrogen-containing layer and an oxygen-containing layer, the nitrogen-containing layer is made from a silicon nitride-based material and the oxygen-containing layer is made from a silicon oxide-based material, wherein, when the nitrogen-containing layer is subjected to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to obtain a maximum peak PSi_f of photoelectron intensity of a Si2p narrow spectrum and the light-permeable substrate is subjected to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to obtain a maximum peak PSi_s of photoelectron intensity of a Si2p narrow spectrum, the numerical value (PSi_f)/(PSi_s), which is produced by dividing the maximum peak PSi_f in the nitrogen-containing layer by the maximum peak PSi_s in the light-permeable substrate, is 1.09 or less.

Mask blank, phase shift mask, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Provided is a mask blank including a phase shift film. The phase shift film is made of a material containing a non-metallic element and silicon and includes first, second, and third layers; refractive indexes n, n, and nof the first, second, and third layers, respectively, at the wavelength of an exposure light satisfy the relations of n&#x3c;nand n&#x3e;n; and extinction coefficients k, k, and kof the first, second, and third layers, respectively, at the wavelength of an exposure light satisfy the relation of k&#x3e;k&#x3e;k.

Provided is a mask blank for a phase shift mask including an etching stopper film. A mask blank has a structure where a transparent substrate has layered thereon an etching stopper film and a phase shift film in this order, in which the phase shift film contains silicon and oxygen, in which the phase shift film has a refractive index nof 1.5 or more for light of 193 nm wavelength and an extinction coefficient kof 0.1 or less for light of 193 nm wavelength, in which the etching stopper film has a refractive index nof 2.6 or more for light of 193 nm wavelength and an extinction coefficient kof 0.4 or less for light of 193 nm wavelength, and the refractive index nand the extinction coefficient ksatisfy at least one of k&#x2264;[(&#x2212;0.188&#xd7;n)+0.879] and k&#x2264;[(2.75&#xd7;n)&#x2212;6.945].

A mask blank in which a phase shift film provided on a transparent substrate includes at least a nitrogen-containing layer and an oxygen-containing layer, the nitrogen-containing layer contains silicon and nitrogen and the oxygen-containing layer contains silicon and oxygen, wherein, when the nitrogen-containing layer is subjected to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to obtain a maximum peak PSi_f of photoelectron intensity of a Si2p narrow spectrum and the transparent substrate is subjected to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to obtain a maximum peak PSi_s of photoelectron intensity of a Si2p narrow spectrum, the numerical value (PSi_f)/(PSi_s), which is produced by dividing the maximum peak PSi_f in the nitrogen-containing layer by the maximum peak PSi_s in the transparent substrate, is 1.09 or less.

Scanning probe microscope

It is an object to obtain a scanning probe microscope capable of effectively suppressing a reduction in precision in a measurement. A conductive probe ( C) has such a pyramid structure as to be expanded from a tip portion to a bottom surface (a surface on which a cantilever ( ) is to be formed) and a semiconductor integrated circuit ( ) is formed in a side surface of the conductive probe ( C). An amplifying circuit ( ) to be the semiconductor integrated circuit ( ) amplifies an electrical characteristic signal given from the conductive probe ( C) to send the electrical characteristic signal to a signal processor ( ) through a conductive cantilever ( C) and a signal cable ( ).

A P-type silicon substrate (4) and an N-type diffusion layer region (6) are connected to aluminum electrodes (5 and 7), respectively. Respective sections of the P-type silicon substrate (4) and the N-type diffusion layer region (6) are exposed. The aluminum electrode (5) connected to the P-type silicon substrate (4) and a platinum electrode (1) are connected in common to a cathode of a DC power supply (3a) and the aluminum electrode (7) connected to the N-type diffusion layer region (6) is connected to an anode of the DC power supply (3a). A sample for evaluation is thus provided. Of this sample, the exposed sections of the P-type silicon substrate (4) and the N-type diffusion layer region (6) are dipped into a mixture (2) of hydrofluoric acid and alcohol, and a voltage not lower than a critical voltage is applied thereto by the DC power supply (3a). Thus, an evaluation of a form of a diffusion layer region in a semiconductor device is achieved with excellent reproducibility.

Method for evaluating a semiconductor device

A semiconductor device is provided for convenient checking of etching states of semiconductor layers, along with a process for its preparation, wherein a test layer is formed on the same wafer where a semiconductor product is manufactured, and concurrently with and under the same formation conditions as formation a target layer forming a part of the semiconductor product, wherein the test layer is formed on a first layer and on a second layer interposed between a portion of the test layer and the first layer, with one of the first and second layers having the same etching properties as the target layer and the other of the first and second layers having different etching characteristics from the target layer. After etching the test layer and target layer concurrently to form holes in each the amount of the etching of the holes can be measured by an electron microscope, and the amount of etching in the target layer of the semiconductor product is controlled from the state of the etching reaching to the lower layer, either the first or second layer, below the test layer.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Hitoshi Maeda