Method for repairing a photomask, method for inspecting a photomask, method for manufacturing a photomask, and method for manufacturing a semiconductor device
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorsKatsuki Ohashi, Hiromu Inoue, Akira Ono, Hiroyuki Ikeda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for inspecting a photomask, comprising generating a laser beam, changing a phase of the laser beam to smooth the brightness distribution of the laser beam, applying the smoothed laser beam to the photomask, acquiring an image of the photomask using a sensor while the laser beam and the photomask are relatively moved, examining the image of the photomask for a defect of the mask-pattern of the photomask.
Claims55
A method for repairing a sample comprising:
- generating a laser beam;
- changing a phase of the laser beam to smooth the brightness distribution of the laser beam, and applying the laser beam to the sample;
- acquiring an image of the sample with a Time Delay Integration (TDI) sensor, and outputting an image signal from the TDI sensor in accordance with relative movement of the laser beam and the sample;
- detecting a defect of the mask pattern of the sample on the basis of the image signal output from the TDI sensor;
- specifying the position of the defect of the mask-pattern on the basis of the result obtained by the detecting step;
- and
- repairing the defect of the mask pattern.
A method for inspecting a sample, comprising:
- generating a laser beam;
- changing a phase of the laser beam to smooth the brightness distribution of the laser beam;
- applying the smoothed laser beam to the sample;
- acquiring an image of the sample using a Time Delay Integration (TDI) sensor while the laser beam and the sample are relatively moved;
- and
- examining the image of the sample for a defect of the mask-pattern of the sample.
A method for manufacturing a photomask comprising:
- forming a pattern onto the photomask;
- generating a laser beam;
- changing a phase of the laser beam to smooth the brightness distribution of the laser beam, and applying the smoothed laser beam to the photomask;
- acquiring an image of the photomask with a TDI sensor as the laser beam and the photomask are moved relatively;
- acquiring a defect of the mask-pattern of the photomask on the basis of the image of the photomask;
- and
- when the defect of the mask-pattern is detected, specifying the position of the defect of the mask pattern, and repairing the defect of the mask pattern.
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device by using a photomask after inspecting the photomask, comprising:
- generating a laser beam;
- changing a phase of the laser beam to smooth the brightness distribution of the laser beam;
- applying the smoothed laser beam to the photomask;
- acquiring an image of the photomask using a Time Delay Integration (TDI) sensor while the laser beam and the photomask are relatively moved;
- and
- examining the image of the photomask for a defect of the mask-pattern of the photomask.
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device by using a photomask after manufacturing the photomask, comprising:
- forming a pattern onto the photomask;
- generating a laser beam;
- changing a phase of the laser beam to smooth the brightness distribution of the laser beam, and applying the smoothed laser beam to the photomask;
- acquiring an image of the photomask with a TDI sensor as the laser beam and the photomask are relatively moved;
- acquiring a defect of the mask pattern of the photomask on the basis of the image of the photomask;
- and
- when the defect of the mask pattern is detected, specifying the position of the defect of the mask pattern, and repairing the defect of the mask pattern.
A method for inspecting a sample, comprising:
- an illumination step of irradiating a sample with a laser beam while changing a phase of the laser beam with time, thereby permitting brightness on the sample to vary with time;
- an image formation step of acquiring an image of the sample, using a sensor placed on an image plane of the sample;
- and
- an image processing step of processing signals obtained by the sensor, so as to inspect a pattern of the sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.