The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 17, 2023
Filed:
Jul. 18, 2022
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Kuo-Hao Lee, Hsinchu, TW;
Hsi-Cheng Hsu, Taichung, TW;
Jui-Chun Weng, Taipei, TW;
Han-Zong Pan, Hsinchu, TW;
Hsin-Yu Chen, Hsinchu, TW;
You-Cheng Jhang, Changhua, TW;
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
A portion of a buffer layer on a backside of a substrate of a photomask assembly may be removed prior to formation of one or more capping layers on the backside of the substrate. The one or more capping layers may be formed directly on the backside of the substrate where the buffer layer is removed from the substrate, and a hard mask layer may be formed directly on the one or more capping layers. The one or more capping layers may include a low-stress material to promote adhesion between the one or more capping layers and the substrate, and to reduce and/or minimize peeling and delamination of the capping layer(s) from the substrate. This may reduce the likelihood of damage to the pellicle layer and/or other components of the photomask assembly and/or may increase the yield of an exposure process in which the photomask assembly is used.