Photomask including fiducial mark, method of patterning the photomask and method of making semiconductor device using the photomask
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsHsin-Chang Lee, Chia-Jen Chen, Chih-Cheng Lin, Ping-Hsun Lin
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Abstract
A photomask includes a pattern region and a plurality of defects in the pattern region. The photomask further includes a first fiducial mark outside of the pattern region, wherein the first fiducial mark includes identifying information for the photomask, the first fiducial mark has a first size and a first shape. The photomask further includes a second fiducial mark outside of the pattern region. The second fiducial mark has a second size different from the first size, or a second shape different from the first shape.
Claims20
A method of patterning a photomask, the method comprising:
- forming at least one fiducial mark on the photomask, wherein the at least one fiducial mark is outside of a pattern region of the photomask, and the at least one fiducial mark includes identifying information for the photomask;
- and
- defining a plurality of patterns on the photomask in the pattern region based on the identifying information, wherein the defining of the plurality of patterns comprises:
- determining locations of defects in the photomask based on the identifying information,
- adjusting a location of at least one pattern of the plurality of patterns based on the locations of defects, and
- selectively removing a portion of an absorption layer based on the adjusted location of the at least one pattern.
A method of patterning a photomask, the method comprising:
- forming a first fiducial mark on the photomask, wherein the first fiducial mark is outside of a pattern region of the photomask, and the first fiducial mark includes defect location information for the photomask;
- and
- defining a plurality of patterns on the photomask in the pattern region, wherein the defining of the plurality of patterns comprises:
- determining whether a defect is located within a first pattern of the plurality of patterns based on the defect location information,
- determining whether the defect is located within a region of the first pattern covered by an absorption layer,
- adjusting a location of the first pattern in response to the defect being located within the first pattern and the defect being located outside the region of the first pattern covered by the absorption layer, and
- maintaining the location of the first pattern in response to the defect being located outside of the first pattern or the defect being located within the region of the first pattern covered by the absorption layer.
A method of patterning a photomask, the method comprising:
- forming a first fiducial mark on the photomask, wherein the first fiducial mark includes identifying information for the photomask;
- determining a location of a first defect in the photomask based on the identifying information;
- and
- defining a plurality of patterns on the photomask based on the identifying information, wherein the defining of the plurality of patterns comprises:
- determining whether the first defect is located within a first pattern of the plurality of patterns based on the location of the first defect,
- determining whether the defect is located within a region of the first pattern covered by an absorption layer, and
- adjusting a location of the first pattern in response to the defect being located within the first pattern and the defect being located outside the region of the first pattern covered by the absorption layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.