Sony Corporation

Imec

Masaki Yoshizawa

Shigeru Moriya

Toshiya Kurokawa

Yasuaki Kano

Satoshi Ota

Atsushi Mitani

Kumiko Oguni

Takanobu Kohno

Leonardus Leunissen

Noritsugu Yoshizawa

One inventive aspect relates to an attenuated phase shift mask suitable for hyper NA lithographic processing of a device, to a method of making such a mask and to hyper NA lithographic processing using such a mask. The attenuated phase shift mask is made taking into the effect of the numerical aperture of the lithographic system on which the attenuated phase shift mask is to be used.

Method for manufacturing attenuated phase-shift masks and devices obtained therefrom

A method of authentication capable of avoiding an easy copying of a module used for personal authentication of an IC card or the like and thereby raising the reliability of the personal authentication, comprising having an electronic circuit having a hardware configuration corresponding to a predetermined authentication processing provided in an IC of an IC card carry out authentication processing using a PIN and data generated at an authentication apparatus at random and having the authentication apparatus similarly carry out the authentication processing, compare the processing result received from the IC card and the processing result obtained by itself, and, when they coincide, authenticating the user of the IC card as the legitimate user.

Authentication method, authentication system, semiconductor circuit and authentication module

To provide a mask able to reduce the thickness of a membrane and maintain the mask strength and a method of producing a semiconductor device able to form a fine pattern with a high accuracy and a method of producing the mask. A mask comprising a thin film, holes formed at the thin film through which a charged particle beam (preferably an electron beam) passes, a support layer formed at one side of the thin film, and apertures formed at a larger size than the holes at least at portions of said holes of said support layer and a method of producing the same and a method of producing a semiconductor device including a lithography step using the same.

Mask and its manufacturing method, and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

The present invention provides a tape drive apparatus enabled to directly and accurately detect dew condensation on a rotary head drum. Tape serving as a recording medium is drawn out of a cartridge. The drawn tape runs in such a way as to be wound on a tape takeup reel provided in a tape drive apparatus body. Signals are recorded on and reproduced from the tape by winding the drawn tape around the rotary head drum. This tape drive apparatus has a prethreading mechanism that brings the tape into slight contact with the rotary head drum before the tape is completely wound therearound. Dew condensation on the rotary head drum is detected by rotating the rotary head drum during a status in which the tape is brought by the prethreading mechanism into contact with the rotary head drum.

Tape drive apparatus

A mask for fabrication of semiconductor devices in which the membrane layer keeps high strength and is free of stress and distortion even though it is made thin. The mask has a membrane-supporting layer at the peripheral part of the mask pattern or the mask pattern region in the membrane layer constituting the mask.

Mask for fabrication of semiconductor devices, process for production of the same, and process for fabrication of semiconductor devices

A method of designing a chemical amplification type photosensitive composition containing an acid generating agent, wherein the average distance between exposure particles in an exposure area of the photosensitive composition upon pattern exposure of the photosensitive composition or the average distance between the acids generated by the pattern exposure is calculated based on the sensitivity required of the photosensitive composition, and the composition of the photosensitive composition is set so that the diffusion length of the acid generated from the acid generating agent by the pattern exposure is greater than the calculated average distance.

Method of designing photosensitive composition and lithography process

A method of lithography capable of optimizing its process condition more simply and precisely based on a limited number of experiments is provided. A line edge roughness of a resist pattern is obtained as a characteristic value for evaluation. The resist pattern is formed in an orthogonal experiment based on an orthogonal table that includes significant factors, which define a process condition of its lithography. Reference level (benchmark) values are set for each factor in the orthogonal experiment, from which an appropriate reference level value which minimizes the edge roughness is selected as a process condition for proceeding with the lithography. By provision of the edge roughness criterion as the characteristic value which has satisfactory reproducibility, can reflect a change in the process condition very sensitively, and has a linear correlation with respect to the resolution, the influences of respective process conditions on the resolution can be reflected more precisely and with an improved reproducibility.

Method of lithography utilizing orthogonal experiment to improve profile

Tape tension control apparatus

A tape tension control apparatus for controlling tape tension by supplying a current to a reel motor for driving a reel in accordance with a diameter of a tape roll includes a: rotational speed detect or for detecting the rotational speed of the tape roll; a rotational speed comparator for comparing a rotational speed detected by the rotational speed detector and a standard rotational speed corresponding to the diameter of the tape roll; and a current correct or for correcting the value of the current supplied to the reel motor in accordance with a comparison result from the rotational speed comparator in such a manner that the speed of rotation of the reel motor becomes equal to the standard rotational speed.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Masaki Yoshizawa