Printing irregularly-spaced contact holes using phase shift masks
OwnerYong Liuinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An exemplary method for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes of a semiconductor device comprises printing a semiconductor wafer using at least one multi-phase phase shift mask. The mask has a plurality of polygons on a substrate, where at least one of the polygons is irregularly-spaced with respect to another polygon, and one or more of polygons provide sufficient phase shift relative to an exterior region of the polygons to effect destructive light interference for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes on one or more phase shift edges.
Claims52
A method for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes of a semiconductor device, comprising:
- printing a semiconductor wafer using at least one multi-phase phase shift mask, said mask:
- having a plurality of polygons as phase shifters on a substrate;
- at least one of said polygons being irregularly-spaced with respect to another of said polygons;
- and
- one or more of said polygons providing sufficient phase shift relative to an exterior region of said polygons to effect destructive light interference for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes on one or more phase shift edges.
A method for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes of a semiconductor device, comprising:
- printing a semiconductor wafer using at least one multi-phase phase shift mask, said mask:
- having a plurality of polygons as phase shifters on a substrate;
- at least one of said polygons being irregularly-spaced with respect to another of said polygons;
- and
- one or more of said polygons providing sufficient phase shift relative to an exterior region of said polygons to effect destructive light interference for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes, including at least one redundant hole, on one or more phase shift edges.
A method for forming one or more phase shift masks for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes on a semiconductor wafer, comprising:
- classifying contact holes into groups, each group comprising at least two contact holes;
- determining a first set of polygons:
- each of said first set of polygons intersecting all contact holes of one of said groups;
- and
- at least one polygon of said first set being irregularly-spaced with respect to one or more other polygons of said first set;
- determining a second set of polygons:
- each of said second set of polygons intersecting at least one polygon of said first set at the locations of the contact holes intersected by said at least one polygon of said first set;
- forming a phase shift in an interior region of each polygon relative to an exterior region such that said interior region provides sufficient phase shift relative to an exterior region of said polygon to effect destructive light interference during a light exposure for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes along one or more phase shift edges;
- and
- forming one or more phase shift masks based on said first and second sets of polygons.
The method of 16, wherein said forming one or more phase shift masks includes forming a first two-phase phase shift mask using said first set of polygons and forming a second two-phase phase shift mask using said second set of polygons.
The method of 16, wherein said forming one or more phase shift masks includes forming a first three-phase phase shift mask based on first set of polygons and forming a second three-phase phase shift mask based on second set of polygons.
The method of 16, wherein said forming one or more phase shift masks includes forming a four-phase phase shift mask based on said first set of polygons and said second set of polygons.
A computer-implemented application for forming phase shift masks capable of printing irregularly-spaced contact holes of a semiconductor device, comprising:
- computer-implemented logic instructions that, when executed on a processor,
- classify contact holes into groups, each group comprising at least two contact holes;
- determine a first set of polygons:
- each of said first set of polygons intersecting all contact holes of one of said groups;
- and
- at least one polygon of said first set being irregularly-spaced with respect to one or more other polygons of said first set;
- determine a second set of polygons:
- each of said second set of polygons intersecting at least one polygon of said first set at the locations of the contact holes being intersected by said at least one polygon of said first set;
- form a phase shifter in an interior region of each polygon such that said interior region provides sufficient phase shift relative to an exterior region of said polygon to effect destructive light interference during a light exposure for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes on one or more phase shift edges;
- and
- form one or more phase shift masks based on said first and second sets of polygons.
The computer-implemented application of 33, wherein said logic instructions to form one or more phase shift masks include logic instructions that, when executed, form a first two-phase phase shift mask using said first set of polygons and form a second two-phase phase shift mask using said second set of polygons.
The computer-implemented application of 33, wherein said logic instructions to form one or more phase shift masks include logic instructions that, when executed, form a first three-phase phase shift mask based on said first set of polygons and form a second three-phase phase shift mask based on said second set of polygons.
The computer-implemented application of 33, wherein said logic instructions to form one or more phase shift masks include logic instructions that, when executed, form a four-phase phase shift mask based on said first set of polygons and said second set of polygons.
A semiconductor device having contact holes being printed by a process comprising:
- printing a semiconductor wafer using at least one multi-phase phase shift mask, said mask:
- having a plurality of polygons as phase shifters on a substrate;
- at least one of said polygons being irregularly-spaced with respect to another of said polygons;
- and
- one or more of said polygons providing sufficient phase shift relative to an exterior region of said polygons to effect destructive light interference for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes along one or more phase shift edges.
A method for forming at least one phase shift mask for printing irregularly-spaced contact holes on a semiconductor wafer, comprising:
- classifying contact holes into groups, each group comprising at least two contact holes;
- determining a first set of polygons having a first relative phase shift value:
- each of said first set of polygons partially overlapping contact holes of one of said groups;
- determining a second set of polygons having a second relative phase shift value:
- each of said second set of polygons:
- contacting at least one corresponding polygon of said first set adjacent to the locations of the contact holes overlapped by said at least one corresponding polygon of said first set;
- and
- partially overlapping said contact holes being partially overlapped by said at least one corresponding polygon of said first set;
- determining a third set of polygons having a third relative phase shift value, said third set of polygons being substantially surrounded by said first and second sets of polygons;
- and
- forming at least one phase shift mask based on said first, second, and third sets of polygons.
A computer-implemented application for forming phase shift masks capable of printing irregularly-spaced contact holes of a semiconductor device, comprising:
- computer-implemented logic instructions that, when executed on a processor,
- classify contact holes into groups, each group comprising at least two contact holes;
- determine a first set of polygons having a first relative phase shift value:
- each of said first set of polygons partially overlapping contact holes of one of said groups;
- determine a second set of polygons having a second relative phase shift value:
- each of said second set of polygons:
- contacting at least one corresponding polygon of said first set adjacent to the locations of the contact holes overlapped by said at least one corresponding polygon of said first set;
- and
- partially overlapping said contact holes being partially overlapped by said at least one corresponding polygon of said first set;
- determine a third set of polygons having a third relative phase shift value, said third set of polygons being substantially surrounded by said first and second sets of polygons;
- and
- form at least one phase shift mask based on said first, second, and third sets of polygons.
A phase-shift mask formed by a process comprising the steps of:
- classifying contact holes into groups, each group comprising at least two contact holes;
- determining a first set of polygons having a first relative phase shift value:
- each of said first set of polygons partially overlapping contact holes of one of said groups;
- determining a second set of polygons having a second relative phase shift value:
- each of said second set of polygons:
- contacting at least one corresponding polygon of said first set adjacent to the locations of the contact holes overlapped by said at least one corresponding polygon of said first set;
- and
- partially overlapping said contact holes being partially overlapped by said at least one corresponding polygon of said first set;
- determining a third set of polygons having a third relative phase shift value, said third set of polygons being substantially surrounded by said first and second sets of polygons;
- and
- forming at least one phase shift mask based on said first, second, and third sets of polygons.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.