Nec Corporation

Elpida Memory, Inc.

Ps4 Luxco S.a.r.l.

Tadao Yasuzato

Shinji Ishida

Nobue Kosa

Hiroshi Yamashita

Hiroshi Nozue

Hiroyoshi Tanabe

Kunihiko Kasama

Seiichi Shiraki

Yoko Iwabuchi

Keizo Sakurai

A photomask has a mask blank and a light shielding film formed on the mask blank. The light shielding film includes a plurality of opening traces extending in a first direction. An end of a first opening trace in the first direction and an end of a second opening trace in the first direction are in different positions in the first direction. The second opening trace adjoins the first opening trace.

Semiconductor device having plural patterns extending in the same direction

An exposure mask has a rectangular pattern, an auxiliary pattern, a translucent region, and a shielding region. The rectangular pattern includes a transparent region having a dimension equal to or greater than a critical resolution of exposure light. The auxiliary pattern is arranged around the rectangular pattern and includes a transparent region having a dimension smaller than the critical resolution. The translucent region is arranged between the rectangular pattern and the auxiliary pattern for shifting a phase of light transmitted through the rectangular pattern and the auxiliary pattern to an opposite phase. The shielding region is arranged around the auxiliary pattern.

Exposure mask, pattern formation method, and exposure mask fabrication method

An exposure mask is constituted of hole-patterns whose scales are higher than the limit resolution of exposure light and which are repetitively aligned in X-Y directions with the prescribed pitch (ranging from 140 nm to 180 nm) therebetween, halftone phase shift regions whose transmission factors range from 2% to 20% and each of which is aligned between two hole-patterns adjacently lying in the X-direction or the Y-direction so as to apply an inverse phase to incidence light, and light preventive regions each of which is aligned between two hole-patterns adjacently lying in an oblique direction inclined to the X-direction or Y-direction by 45&#xb0;. The exposure mask is illuminated with azimuthal polarization light which is produced by a secondary light source of a zonal illumination and whose polarization direction is perpendicular to the radial direction of the secondary light source.

Exposure mask and pattern forming method therefor

Hole patterns are repeatedly arranged on a mask at a constant pitch in each of predetermined directions. In the predetermined directions, a first direction with the smallest pitch and a second direction with the second smaller pitch are specified. A Levenson phase shifter is formed corresponding to the hole patterns to cause the phases of transmitted light through the hole patterns adjacent to each other in the first direction to be opposite to each other. An exposure process is performed by two-point illumination which is adapted to improve the resolution property in the second direction.

Pattern forming method and mask

An irradiation pattern data generation method includes: a process for providing a design pattern having diagonal side portions that extend diagonally with respect to an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction on an XY plane; a rectangular approximation process for approximating the design pattern to rectangles to generate a rectangular approximation pattern; a first correction process for shifting the side portions of the rectangular approximation pattern in the Y-axis direction to generate a first correction pattern; and a second correction process for enlarging the side portions of the first correction pattern in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction to generate an irradiation pattern.

Irradiation pattern data generation method, mask fabrication method, and plotting system

A method of creating data of a mask for manufacturing a semiconductor device. The mask includes at least one auxiliary pattern arranged adjacent to a line pattern. The at least one auxiliary pattern is allocated in accordance with a rule-based method on the basis of an interval between a first line pattern and a second line pattern adjacent to the first line pattern. Size of the at least one auxiliary pattern is then optimized in accordance with a model-based OPC (Optical Proximity Correction), by shifting edges of the at least one auxiliary pattern and edges for one of the line patterns on the basis of a first light intensity threshold on the at least one auxiliary pattern and a second light intensity threshold on the line patterns.

Mask data creation method

In a mask data generation method, when auxiliary patterns are arranged with respect to a device pattern, an arrangement rule for a tip of the device pattern is designed to be different from that for other portions. For portions that are corrected to a large extent by an OPC process, such as the tip of the device pattern, an auxiliary pattern is spaced at an increased distance from the device pattern. Specifically, a distance at which an auxiliary pattern is spaced from the tip of the device pattern is set to be longer than a distance at which an auxiliary pattern is spaced from a long side of the device pattern.

Mask data generation method and mask

A circuit pattern exposure method for irradiating illumination light onto a mask to transfer (offset) mask patterns that are formed in the mask to a semiconductor substrate, wherein the mask includes a plurality of main mask patterns that are arranged at a prescribed pitch and auxiliary mask patterns that are arranged outside the outermost main mask pattern and that are not to be transferred (offset) to the semiconductor substrate; the auxiliary mask patterns are provided with a first auxiliary mask row that is arranged adjacent to the outermost main mask pattern and a second auxiliary mask row that is arranged adjacent to the first auxiliary mask row; and the first auxiliary mask row and the second auxiliary mask row are arranged at a pitch that is narrower than the pitch of arrangement of the main mask patterns.

Circuit pattern exposure method and mask

Disclosed is a photomask in which contrast of light intensity of a pattern to be transferred (main pattern) is enhanced on an image plane while transfer of auxiliary pattern themselves is suppressed. The photomask, which is used in exposure to which is applied four-point illumination method for inverting phase of light that passes through mutually adjacent patterns, has first auxiliary patterns, disposed above and below and to the left and right of a main pattern to be transferred, to thereby provide a transparent substrate with a surface flush with the main pattern or with a difference in level corresponding to a phase difference with respect to the main pattern that is K times 360&deg; (where K is an integer that does not include zero), and second auxiliary patterns disposed at angles of 45&deg; with respect to the main pattern, the second auxiliary patterns providing a difference in level corresponding to a phase difference, with respect to the first auxiliary patterns, that is (2L&plus;1) times 180&deg; (where L is an integer inclusive of zero). The contrast of the first auxiliary patterns is reduced by the second auxiliary patterns, thereby enlarging the depth of focus.

Photomask and exposure method using a photomask

A photomask has a plurality of main holes which pass a prescribed light beam that is shone onto positions that make up a plurality of pattern parts, at locations that are opposite a plurality of pattern parts for said semiconductor device, this photomask also having a plurality of minute auxiliary holes, which pass a light beam of a degree that is not transferred at the time of exposure, these auxiliary holes being disposed between the main holes.

Photomask and method of exposure using same

A photomask used for a projection exposure equipment comprises a transparent substrate and a light intercepting film provided on the transparent substrate. The transparent substrate comprises a main pattern region and an auxiliary pattern region provided in a periphery of the main pattern region. The auxiliary pattern region is etched to a depth at which a phase difference arises between light transmitted through the main pattern and light transmitted through the auxiliary pattern. The phase difference is of substantially an integral number of times as large as 360 degrees, wherein the integral number is one selected from the group consisting of integral numbers of one or more and integral numbers of minus one or less. The light intercepting film comprises openings on the main pattern region and the auxiliary pattern region.

Photomask used for projection exposure with phase shifted auxiliary

To a projection lens system is added spherical aberration of 0.1.lambda., and the exposure is performed by using a phase-shifting mask having a phase difference of 200 degrees which is provided with a phase error of 20 degrees corresponding to the spherical aberration amount. Therefore, the focus characteristic can be more remarkably flattened as compared with the prior art in which the phase difference of the mask is set to 180 degrees and the spherical aberration of the projection lens system is set to zero, so that the depth of focus can be enlarged by about 0.2 micron and the precision of the pattern dimension of semiconductor devices manufactured by using the exposure method can be enhanced.

Phase-shifting mask, exposure method and method for measuring amount of

Disclosed is a photomask, which has: a transparent substrate; and masking film which is selectively formed on the transparent substrate to provide a predetermined pattern composed of a transparent region and a masking region; wherein the transparent region comprises a first transparent region which is formed adjacent to the masking region and extends like a belt along the masking region and a second transparent region which lies sandwiching the first transparent region with the masking region, whereby a phase of exposure light through the first transparent region is advanced prior to that through the second transparent region.

Phase shifting photomask with two different transparent regions

In a halftone type phase shift photomask, a patterned halftone layer is formed on a transparent substrate, and a light screen layer is formed on the halftone layer. A part of a mask pattern is changed from opaque to halftone, thus improving the resist pattern fidelity.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Tadao Yasuzato