Renesas Technology Corp.

Other

Renesas Electronics Corporation

Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.

Organo Corporation

M. Watanabe Co., Ltd.

Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Yoshikazu Nagamura

Nobuyuki Yoshioka

Koji Yamanaka

Kouki Hayashi

Kouji Tange

Hozumi Usui

Kunihiro Hosono

Shogo Narukawa

Takashi Ipposhi

Katsumi Eikyu

Masaki Kusuhara

Yasutaka Kikuchi

Koichi Kido

Koji Tange

Yuki Oomasa

Kazuhito Suzuki

The semiconductor device has a wiring M, an interlayer insulating film ILformed on the wiring M, and two wirings Mformed on the interlayer insulating film IL, and the wiring Mis connected to the wiring Mby a conductor layer PGformed in the interlayer insulating film IL. A recess CCis formed on the upper surface ILof the interlayer insulating film IL, and the recess CCis defined by a side surface Sconnected to the upper surface ILand a side surface Sconnected to the side surface S, and the side surface Sis inclined so that the width WCof the recess CCdecreases in the direction from the upper surface ILof the interlayer insulating film ILtoward the upper surface ILof the interlayer insulating film IL

Semiconductor device having a multilayer structure

A technique for quantitatively expressing a manufacturing difficulty level of a photomask and for efficiently manufacturing the photomask is provided. A mask manufacturing difficulty level different for each mask layout, product, and mask layer is relatively recognized with a mask manufacturing load index calculated by a mask manufacturing load prediction system, and when layout correction is possible, the final layout is corrected to a layout with a low difficulty level, and a mask ordering party provides a mask manufacturer with information regarding the mask manufacturing difficulty level in an early stage. The mask manufacturing load index is expressed with a defect guarantee load index and a lithography load index.

Method of manufacturing photomask

A method of determining defects in photomasks according to the present invention is designed to increase the yield of the manufacture of photomasks and to decrease the cost of inspecting the photomasks. In the method, circuit datarepresenting a circuit to be formed on a semiconductor substrate by photolithography is prepared, and layout datais prepared from the circuit data. The layout data is converted to compensated layout data by performing RET. Further, mask-manufacturing data is developed from the compensated layout data. To form patterns on a semiconductor substrate by photolithography, attribute information is imparted to the mask-manufacturing data. The attribute information represents whether the patterns are adaptive to electrically active regions or electrically non-active region. In the mask-inspecting process, a criterion for determining whether the patterns formed on the photomasks have defects is changed in accordance with the attribute information.

Method of determining defects in photomask

A shading area having a transmissivity in the range of 0 to 2% is formed at the center of a clear defect in a wiring pattern of a half tone mask. Semitransparent areas having a transmissivity in the range of 10 to 25% are formed, adjacently to shading area, in areas extending from the inside of the edge of an imaginary pattern having no defect to the outside of the edge. In this way, in the correction of the defect in the half tone mask, the working accuracy tolerable margin of the correction portion of the defect can be made large.

Photomask, and method and apparatus for producing the same

Organic matter and metal impurities present on the surface of a photomask are removed. Foreign matter still adhering to the surface of the photomask is removed with Hgas dissolved water. The photomask is dried. Thus provided is a method of washing a photomask in a manner which permits attaining an effect of removing foreign matter equivalent or superior to that of a conventional method with a small amount of chemical solution and reducing the amounts of chemicals and high purity water.

Method of and apparatus for washing photomask and washing solution for photomask

A photomask provided with a light-shielding coating on a surface of a glass substrate is cleaned with Ogas solved water to eliminate organic substances adhered on a surface of the photomask (S). Using an alkaline chemical such as alkaline ionized water or hydrogenated water, the photomask is then cleaned to eliminate contamination (S). After completion of these cleaning steps, the photomask is dried (S).

Cleaning process for photomasks

The coordinate value of the deficient area detected by a wafer inspecting apparatus and the wafer inspecting data are transmitted to a coordinate transforming computer by use of an inspection-data managing computer. The coordinate value detected by the wafer inspection based on the wafer inspecting data and the photomask inspecting data is transformed into the coordinate value on the photomask, to thereby analyze the deficient area of the photomask.

Photomask visual inspection system

In a pattern inspection apparatus inspecting a pattern formed on a device and the like with a plurality of inspection lights, a sensitivity adjustment method in which respective optical systems associated with the inspection lights are efficiently and precisely checked to adjust the sensitivity thereof is attained. The sensitivity adjusting method for adjusting sensitivity of the pattern inspection apparatus performing inspection with a plurality of inspection lights includes the steps of preparing a sensitivity adjusting substrate divided into a plurality of regions to which identical reference patterns are provided, and scanning the reference patterns with the plurality of inspection lights making one of the plurality of inspection lights respectively correspond to one of the reference patterns, after attaching the sensitivity adjusting substrate to the pattern inspection apparatus.

Sensitivity adjusting method for pattern inspection apparatus

A corrected irradiation region ( ) to be irradiated with a laser light under given output conditions to remove an opaque extension defect ( ) is set to include: {circumflex over (1)} an irradiation region ( A) containing the opaque extension defect ( ) and having widths w and w and {circumflex over (2)} a pattern repaired region ( B) having the width w and extending in the negative direction in a first direction D by the absolute value of a quantity of bias offset of repairing &Dgr;w from the connection between the opaque extension defect ( ) and the pattern edge ( E). The quantity of correction offset &Dgr;w is set so that the dimensional variation rate of the resist pattern transferred falls within a range permitted for the device quality. Part of the pattern edge ( E) is missing by the width &verbar;&Dgr;w&verbar; after the irradiation of laser light. When the design pattern dimension as dimensional value on the photomask is reduced to about 1 &mgr;m, for example, it is thus possible to alleviate the adverse effect of the dimensional variation of the resist pattern on the device quality that is caused by a reduction in transmittance in the repaired defect portion.

Photomask, manufacturing method thereof, and semiconductor device

Method and apparatus for cleaning photomask

Organic matter and metal impurities present on the surface of a photomask are removed. Foreign matter still adhering to the surface of the photomask is removed with H,gas dissolved water. The photomask is dried. Thus provided is a method of washing a photomask in a manner which permits attaining an effect of removing foreign matter equivalent or superior to that of a conventional method with a small amount of chemical solution and reducing the amounts of chemicals and high purity water.

To provide a photomask cleaning method which brings about a high effect of removing residual sulfuric acid or foreign objects and can remove foreign objects effectively without fluctuating the transmission or other properties of the light-shielding layer (MoSiON film) in a phase shift photomask. A method of cleaning a photomask which comprises a first step of cleaning the surface of a photomask used as a master in the photolithography step in the process for the production of semiconductor device with a hot mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide to decompose organic objects present thereon and remove metallic impurities, a second step of removing residual sulfuric acid from the surface of said photomask, a third step of removing foreign objects attached to the surface of said photomask, and a fourth step of drying said photomask which has finished with said first, second and third steps, characterized in that said second step involves the removal of residual sulfuric acid from the surface of said photomask with anodic water and said third step involves the removal of foreign objects with cathodic water.

Growing community of inventors

Hyogo, Japan

Yoshikazu Nagamura