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:
Dec. 20, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 30, 2003
Rex K. Frost, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Swaminathan Sivakumar, Portland, OR (US);
Rex K. Frost, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Swaminathan Sivakumar, Portland, OR (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to the reduction of critical dimensions and the reduction of feature sizes in manufacturing integrated circuits. Specifically, the method controls photoresist flow rates to develop critical dimensions beyond the resolution limits of the photoresist material used, and the limits of lithographic tool sets. The post exposure and developed resist pattern is exposed to a solvent prior to a bake or reflow process. Exposure to the solvent lowers the molecular weight of the resist material, modifying the resist material's reflow rate. The post-exposure resist is then easier to control during a subsequent reflow process to reduce the hole or line size of the patterned resist.