A plurality of photomasks used to manufacture the same semiconductor device, each of the photomasks having a plurality of mutually replaceable unit regions set therein, are inspected to detect a defect. It is determined whether or not the detected defect has a redundancy defect positioned in a unit region replaceable with another unit region to remedy the photomask. Then, when inspecting the second or subsequent photomask, a unit region including the coordinate of a redundancy defect detected in another photomask inspected previously is set to be a non-inspection region, and the non-inspection region is not inspected.

Photomask inspection method, semiconductor device inspection method, and pattern inspection apparatus

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an EUV mask blank quality determination method which makes it possible to reduce EUV mask manufacturing costs and an EUV mask blank manufacturing method.SOLUTION: The EUV mask blank quality determination method in an embodiment of the invention includes a step in which evaluation is made based on information about defects present in an EUV mask blank and information about the design of a mask pattern to be formed on the blank to see whether, when an integrated circuit device is produced using an EUV mask created by forming the mask pattern on the blank, the integrated circuit device will turn out to be defective or not. When the integrated circuit device is found that it would not be defective, the blank is determined to be good.

Euv mask blank quality determination method and euv mask blank manufacturing method

A pattern correcting method of an embodiment computes a distribution of pattern coverages on a design layout of a circuit pattern in the vicinity of a position that becomes an error pattern in a case where an on-substrate pattern is formed. Then, an area on the design layout in which a difference in the distribution of the pattern coverages becomes small by adding an addition pattern is set as an addition area. Next, addition pattern candidates to be added to the addition area are generated, an addition pattern to be added to the design layout is selected from the candidates on the basis of a predetermined selection criterion, and the addition pattern is added to the addition area.

Pattern correcting method, mask forming method, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a template testing method, a template manufacturing method, a semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing method and a testing system capable of performing a nanoimprint lithography technology at low costSOLUTION: A method for testing a template for manufacturing a memory cell array including a repairable area and a redundancy area that can be replaced by the repairable area, the method comprises: first determining whether or not a detected defect is located in the repairable area, based on a location of the detected defect in the template and location information; then determining whether or not the number of repairable areas having the detected defect exceeds an allowable number; and then notifying a testing result of the template determined to be failure, when the detected defect is located out of the repairable area or when the number of repairable areas having the detected defect exceeds the allowable number

Template testing method, template manufacturing method, semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing method using the template and testing system for the template

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the time required for defect treatment by omitting additional defect treatment when there is a defect in a processed substrate itself being subjected to charged beam drawing.SOLUTION: A charged beam drawing device for drawing a desired pattern on a processed substrate coated with a photosensitive thin film by irradiating the processed substrate with a charged particle beam includes a data storage unit 11 for storing the drawing data corresponding to the pattern, a coordinate acquisition unit 12 for acquiring the defect coordinate of the processed substrate, a defect verification unit 13 for verifying whether or not a part becomes a defect after processing by collating the defect coordinate thus acquired with the coordinate of the drawing data, and a data changing unit 14 for changing the drawing data so that a part or all of the part determined to become a defect does not function as a circuit after processing. The processed substrate is subjected to drawing based on the drawing data changed by the data changing unit 14.

Charged beam drawing device and drawing data preparation device

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photomask forming device in which a pattern indicating the applicable region and the non-applicable region of a redundant circuit is formed on a photomask and whether the redundant circuit is applicable or not to a defect position caused on the photomask can be decided during photomask inspection, and a photomask inspection device. SOLUTION: A photomask is formed by combining a mask pattern and a SRAF (sub-resolution assist feature) pattern indicating the applicable region/non-applicable region of a redundant circuit in the mask forming device 100, which enables a mask inspection process to decide whether the redundant circuit is applicable or not, the decision conventionally carried out by a person. Therefore, a human error on the decision can be eliminated and productivity of a photomask process can be improved. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Photomask forming device and photomask inspection device

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a highly accurate photomask, and to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device. SOLUTION: A device of making the photomask for exposing to overlap a first transfer region and a second transfer region to one region of a photoresist film on the principal plane of a substrate is provided with: a covering rate calculation part of an exposure region for generating the result of calculation by calculating the covering rate of a device pattern in the first transfer region; a dummy mask pattern determination part of a shading region for determining a dummy mask pattern formed on the second transfer region based on a calculation result generated by the exposure region covering rate calculation part; a dummy mask making part for making the dummy mask by combining data of the dummy mask pattern formed on the second transfer region and layout data of the first transfer region based on the determination content of the dummy mask pattern determination part of the shading region; and a data output part for outputting the data of the made dummy mask. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Minoru Yamada

Papers

Photomask forming device and photomask inspection device

Photomask, device and method of making photomask, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device