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. 02, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 24, 1997
Shintaro Kawata, Ibaraki-ken, JP;
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Methods are disclosed for manufacturing masks for charged-particle-beam (CPB) or X-ray transfer. The masks have substantially no pattern defects. In a representative method for making stencil masks, the mask is defined using multiple subfields each having a respective pattern of voids. The subfields are separated from each other by boundary regions lacking any pattern features. The boundary regions include supports to provide the mask with physical and thermal stability. The supports are formed by an etching step in which relatively large amounts of substrate are removed. In the methods, the mask pattern is formed, inspected, and 'repaired' as required before performing the etching step that forms the supports. Thus, the forming, inspection, and repair steps can be performed before the mask is made too delicate.