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US 2010/0062348 A1Published application
Method and Apparatus for Gating Photomask Contamination
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorChih-Wing Chang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photomask is provided that includes a transparent substrate, a mask pattern formed on a first area of the substrate, the mask pattern having one or more openings that allow light radiation to pass through and having one or more features formed of a first material, and an inspection structure formed on a second area of the substrate different from the first area, the inspection structure being formed of a second material different from the first material.
Claims20
A photomask, comprising:
- a transparent substrate;
- a mask pattern formed on a first area of the substrate, the mask pattern having one or more openings that allow light radiation to pass through and having one or more features formed of a first material;
- and
- an inspection structure formed on a second area of the substrate different from the first area, the inspection structure being formed of a second material different from the first material.
1 more element
A method for monitoring a contamination status of a photomask, the method comprising:
- providing a photomask that includes:
- a transparent substrate;
- a mask pattern formed on a first area of the substrate, the mask pattern having one or more openings that allow light radiation to pass through and having features formed of a first material;
- and
- an inspection structure formed on a second area of the substrate different from the first area, the inspection structure being of a second material different from the first material;
- inspecting the inspection structure to determine whether there is a precipitate proximate to or in contact with the inspection structure;
- and
- cleaning the photomask if it is determined that there is the precipitate proximate to or in contact with the inspection structure.
5 more elements
A photomask, comprising:
- a transparent substrate;
- an absorption layer formed on the substrate and having a pattern to be transferred onto a semiconductor wafer;
- and
- a reference structure formed on the substrate and formed of a material different from the absorption layer, the reference structure being associated with a determination of a contamination status of the photomask.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.