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US 12,607,927 B2Granted
Photomask and method for inspecting photomask
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsChien-Hung Lai, Hao-Ming Chang, Hsuan-Wen Wang, Ching-Ting Yang, Cheng-Kuang Chen, Chien-Chao Huang
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides a photomask, including a plurality of pattern areas, each of the pattern areas is defined by a respective boundary, a first pattern area including a first mask feature, and a training area adjacent to a boundary of the pattern area, the training area comprising a first training feature, wherein the first training feature is comparable to the first mask feature.
Claims20
A method for inspecting a photomask, comprising:
- receiving a first design database;
- generating a database training image based on the first design database;
- obtaining a mask training image by scanning one of a plurality of training areas of a photomask, wherein a training feature on the training areas of the photomask is substantially similar to a mask feature in one of a plurality of pattern areas of the photomask, and the training feature on the training areas of the photomask comprises:
- an array of repeating training features arranged in a row, wherein a pattern of the array of repeating training features is configured to be transferred to a scribe line of a substrate;
- comparing the database training image and the mask training image;
- generating a second design database based on a result of comparing the database training image and the mask training image;
- obtaining a mask image by scanning the mask feature in the one of the plurality of pattern areas of the photomask;
- and
- comparing the mask image and an initial database image derived from the second design database,
- wherein a first training area of the training areas is formed in an in-frame region of the photomask and a second training area of the training areas is formed at a center of the photomask, which is outside the in-frame region and surrounded by the plurality of pattern areas, and the plurality of pattern areas arranged in rows and columns are separated by the in-frame region.
7 more elements
A method for inspecting a photomask, comprising:
- receiving a first design database;
- receiving a first mask image of one of a plurality of training areas of a photomask fabricated based on the first design database, wherein a training feature on the training areas of the photomask is substantially similar to a mask feature in one of a plurality of pattern areas of the photomask, and the training feature is configured to be transferred to a scribe line of a substrate;
- generating a first database image based on the first design database;
- comparing the first database image and the first mask image;
- generating a second design database based on a result of comparing the first database image and the first mask image by adjusting the first design database;
- generating a second database image based on the second design database;
- and
- comparing the second database image and a second mask image corresponding to the mask feature in the pattern area of the photomask,
- wherein a first training area of the training areas is formed in an in-frame region of the photomask and a second training area of the training areas is formed at a center of the photomask, which is outside the in-frame region and located in one of the plurality of pattern areas, and the plurality of pattern areas arranged in rows and columns are separated by the in-frame region.
6 more elements
A method for inspecting a photomask, comprising:
- fabricating a photomask, wherein the photomask comprises:
- a plurality of pattern areas, wherein each of the pattern areas is defined by a respective boundary, and a first pattern area comprises a first mask feature;
- and
- a plurality of training areas, the training area comprising a first training feature, wherein the first training feature is substantially similar to the first mask feature, and the first training pattern is configured to be transferred to a scribe line of a substrate;
- obtaining a mask training image by scanning one of the training areas of the photomask;
- receiving a design database;
- generating a database training image based on the design database;
- comparing the database training image and the mask training image;
- adjusting the design database based on a result of comparing the database training image and the mask training image;
- generating an initial database image based on the adjusted design database;
- obtaining a mask image by scanning the first pattern area of the photomask;
- and
- comparing the initial database image and the mask image,
- wherein a first training area of the training areas is formed between two adjacent pattern areas of the plurality of pattern areas, and a second training area of the training areas is formed in one of the plurality of pattern areas other than the two adjacent pattern areas.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.