Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

• forming a photo resist layer over a substrate having a target area with underlying structures;
• exposing the photo resist layer to exposure radiation;
• developing the exposed photo resist layer with a developing solution;
• and
• forming a planarization layer over the developed photo resist layer, wherein:
• the underlying structures include concave portions,
• the developed photo resist layer in one concave portion is in direct contact with one end of the concave portion and a top of the developed photo resist layer in the one concave portion is located at a higher level than a top of the underlying structures and partially extends over the one end to a neighboring concave portion, and
• a volume Ve of the developed photo resist layer in the target area is in a range of 0.9 Vi<Ve<1.1 Vi, where Vi is a volume of the concave portions in the target area before the photo resist layer is formed.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

• forming underlying structures by a first patterning operation including a lithography operation using a photo mask and an etching operation;
• forming a photo resist layer over the underlying structures;
• forming first planarization patterns by a second patterning operation including a lithography operation using a second photo mask on the photo resist layer over the underlying structures;
• and
• forming a second planarization layer over the first planarization patterns, wherein:
• the second planarization layer is made of an organic material, and
• an opaque area ratio of the second photo mask in an area of interest over a substrate varies with respect to an opaque area ratio of the photo mask in the area of interest.