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:
Nov. 03, 1998
Filed:
Jan. 09, 1997
Edward D Babich, Chappaqua, NY (US);
Alessandro Cesare Callegari, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
Fuad Elias Doany, Katonah, NY (US);
Sampath Purushothaman, Yorktown Heights, NY (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method of reactive sputtering for depositing an amorphous hydrogenated carbon film (a-C:H) from an argon/hydrocarbon/hydrogen/oxygen plasma, preferably an Ar/acetylene-helium/hydrogen/oxygen plasma. Such films are optically transparent in the visible range and partially absorbing at ultraviolet (UV) and deep UV (DUV) wavelengths, in particular, 365, and 248, 193 nm. Moreover, the films produced by the present invention are amorphous, hard, scratch resistant, and etchable by excimer laser ablation or by oxygen reactive ion etch process. Because of these unique properties, these films can be used to form a patterned absorber for UV and DUV single layer attenuated phase shift masks. Film absorption can also be increased such that these films can be used to fabricate conventional photolithographic shadow masks.