Photomask

About: Photomask is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7917 publications have been published within this topic receiving 54524 citations. The topic is also known as: photoreticle & reticle.

Method for manufacturing semiconductor device

Abstract: When a resist pattern used to manufacture a semiconductor integrated circuit element is formed, high alignment precision can be achieved. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprises the steps of: irradiating exposure light onto a resist film coated on a substrate to be etched via a photomask on which at least a first opening pattern and a second opening pattern are formed to thereby expose the resist film; developing the resist film to thereby obtain a resist pattern; etching away the substrate while using the resist pattern as an etching mask to thereby obtain a predetermined pattern; and removing the resist pattern; wherein when the exposure light has first exposure intensity, the predetermined pattern obtained at the step is a pattern corresponding to the first opening pattern and a pattern corresponding to the second opening pattern; and when the exposure light has second exposure intensity, the predetermined pattern obtained at the step is only a pattern corresponding to the second opening pattern.

Novel alignment system for imprint lithography

Abstract: A novel alignment system for imprint lithography in the deep sub-hundred nanometer realm is proposed. The new system is inherently more precise than the alignment systems used in conventional projection lithography because alignment marks on an imprint mold (the functional equivalent of a photomask in projection lithography) are directly compared to alignment marks on a wafer with no intermediate optics or reference points. If the measured misalignment is so severe that all marks cannot be brought into registration simultaneously by the usual x–y translations and rotations, the mold is deliberately deformed with a system of piezoelectric actuators in such a way that its induced distortions precisely match those on the wafer and all of the alignment marks at each chip site can be pulled into registration simultaneously. Finite-element analysis indicates that using actuators to distort the mold is superior to distorting the wafer.

Extreme ultraviolet light (euv) photomasks, and fabrication methods thereof

Abstract: Embodiments of EUV photomasks and methods for forming a EUV photomask are provided. The method comprises providing a substrate, a reflective layer, a capping layer, a hard mask layer, and forming an opening therein. An absorber layer is then filled in the opening and over the top surface of the hard mask layer. A planarizing process is provided to remove the absorber layer above the top surface of the hard mask layer and form an absorber in the opening, wherein the absorber is substantially co-planar with the top surface of the hard mask layer.

Photomask blank and method for manufacturing photomask

Abstract: A light-shielding film 2 is formed on a transparent substrate 1. A hard mask film 3 is formed on this light-shielding film 2. The entire hard mask film 3 is made of a chromium-containing material including tin. The film made a chromium-containing material including tin can cause a significant increase in the etching rate at the time of chlorine-containing dry etching. Furthermore, comparing with a film made of a chromium-containing material in which part of chromium is replaced with a light element, the above film has an equal or higher level of etching resistance to fluorine-dry etching. Thus, burden on a photoresist at the time of etching the chromium-containing material film can be reduced. Therefore, high-precision pattern transfer can be performed even in the case that the resist film is thinned.

Crack-free direct-writing on glass using a low-power UV laser in the manufacture of a microfluidic chip

Abstract: Glass is an excellent material for use as a microfluidic chip substrate because it has great chemical and thermal stability. This work describes a flexible platform for the rapid prototyping of microfluidic chips fabricated from glass. A debris-free laser direct-writing technology that requires no photomask generation is developed. A 266 nm laser with a high repetition rate is employed in laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) for glass machining. A microfluidic pattern is designed using computer drawing software and then automatically translated into computer numerical control motion so that the microtrench is directly fabricated on the glass chip. The overall machining speed can be increased by increasing the repetition rate to ~6 kHz. Without a clean room facility or the highly corrosive acid, HF, the overall development time is within hours. Trenches with complex structures that are hard to fabricate by photolithography were easily produced by laser direct-writing. An integrated microreactor/concentrator is demonstrated. The crack-free and debris-free surface was characterized by SEM and a surface profiler. Various effective etching chemicals for the LIBWE process were investigated to understand the etching mechanism. The minimal laser power used for glass etching was approximately 20 mW for a 6 µm wide microtrench. Several new compounds have been demonstrated to be effective in ablation. The etch threshold is minimum and does not decrease further as the unit length absorbance increases above 8000 in acetone solution.