Intel Corporation

Swaminathan (Sam) Sivakumar

Rex K Frost

Charles Henry Wallace

Paul Anton Nyhus

Phi L Nguyen

Systems and techniques relating to the layout and use of sub-resolution assist features. In one implementation, a mask includes a first feature and a second feature separated from each other by a gap and a sub-resolution assist feature bridging the gap between the first feature and the second feature.

Sub-resolution assist features

Systems and techniques for accommodating diffraction in the printing of features on a substrate. In one implementation, a method includes identifying a pair of features to be printed using a corresponding pair of patterning elements and increasing a separation distance between the pair of patterning elements while maintaining the sufficiently small pitch between the corresponding imaged features. The pitch of the pair of features can be sufficiently small that, upon printing, diffraction will make a separation between the features smaller than a separation between the corresponding pair of patterning elements.

Accommodating diffraction in the printing of features on a substrate

A mask pattern may be decomposed into two or more masks, each having a pitch greater than that of the original mask pattern. New, 'partial-pattern' masks may be created for each of the new mask patterns. The original mask pattern is transferred to the photoresist for the corresponding layer using a multiple exposure technique in which the photoresist is exposed with each of the partial-pattern masks individually, e.g., back-to-back in a pass through a scanner, to define all of the features in the original pattern.

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Portland, OR, United States of America

Swaminathan (Sam) Sivakumar