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:
Mar. 12, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 08, 1994
Yan A Borodovsky, Portland, OR (US);
Ananda G Sarangi, Beaverton, OR (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of enhancing the lithographic resolution of randomly laid out isolated structures is disclosed. A first mask comprises an active layer with isolated features such as gates. Portions of the active layer have a reduced dimension typical of periodic structures. The first mask additionally has complementary features provided along side the reduced active features to provide periodicity. In this way, the resolution of the lithographic process is enhanced, and other enhanced resolution technologies additionally can be used to best advantage to form a patterned photosensitive layer having isolated features of reduced width. The photosensitive layer is then exposed to a second mask which exposes the complementary features so that they are removed from the latent image in the photosensitive layer. This second exposure also further improves resolution by enhancing the contrast between exposed and unexposed regions. A method is disclosed for automatically providing random logic device layouts having the complementary features, as well as for providing a layout for the second mask.