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US 6,485,869 B2Granted
Photomask frame modification to eliminate process induced critical dimension control variation
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsWilman Tsai, Marilyn Kamna, Frederick Chen, Jeff Farnsworth
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus comprising a mask having an active device area and a moat. The moat substantially surrounds the mask active device area and has a width greater than a plasma specie diffusional length. A method comprising depositing a layer of resist on a mask substrate having transparent and opaque layers; and exposing the resist layer to radiation. The radiation is patterned to produce features within an active device area. The radiation is also patterned to produce a moat substantially surrounding the active device area having a width greater than a plasma specie diffusional length.
Claims49
A mask, comprising:
- an active device area;
- and
- a moat, said moat surrounding said active device area, said moat having a width, said width tailored to be greater than a diffusional length of a specie within a plasma, said plasma having been used to etch a portion of an opaque layer of said mask.
A mask, comprising:
- a transparent layer that allows light to pass through said mask;
- an opaque layer that thwarts the passing of light through said mask;
- a range of metro cell edge slopes that help form a plurality of metro cells;
- an active device area, said active device area having a range of feature edge slopes, said plurality of metro cells used to help align said active device area within a photolithographic tool that exposes a wafer to at least a portion of said light that is allowed to pass through said mask;
- and
- a moat region outside said active device area, said moat region having a width, said width tailored to be greater than a diffusional length of a specie within a plasma, said plasma having been used to etch a portion of said opaque layer, said range of metro coil edge slopes at or within said range of feature edge slopes.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- forming a layer of resist on a mask substrate, said mask substrate having a transparent layer and an opaque layer;
- and
- exposing said layer of resist to radiation, said radiation tailored to produce features within an active device area, said radiation tailored to produce a moat surrounding said active device area, said moat having a width, said width greater than a diffusional length of a specie within a plasma, said plasma to be used to etch a portion of said opaque layer.
A method, comprising:
- a) transmitting light through a mask, a first portion of said light passing through said mask outside an active device area located on said mask such that a moat of light is formed just as said light passes through said mask, said moat of light having a width greater than a diffusional length of a specie within a plasma, said plasma having been used to etch an opaque layer of said mask;
- b) focusing a second portion of said light that has passed through said active device area onto a semiconductor wafer that has been coated with resist.
A mask, comprising:
- a transparent layer that allows light to pass through said mask;
- an opaque layer that thwarts the passing of light through said mask;
- a range of metro cell edge slopes that help form a plurality of metro cells;
- an active device area, said active device area having a range of feature edge slopes, said plurality of metro cells used to help align said active device area within a photolithographic tool that exposes a wafer to at least a portion of said light that is allowed to pass through said mask;
- and
- a region outside said active device area, said range of metro cell edge slopes at or within said range of feature edge slopes at least in part because said region sufficiently detered etch rate reduction of a plasma etch used to form said metro cell edge slopes, said etch rate reduction caused by reactions between said plasma and a resist layer that existed on said mask outside said active device area during said plasma etch, said region exposing said opaque layer to said plasma during said plasma etch.
3 more elements
A method, said method comprising:
- forming a layer of resist on a mask substrate, said mask substrate having a transparent layer and an opaque layer;
- and
- exposing said layer of resist to radiation, said radiation tailored to produce:
- 1) features within an active device area, 2) metro cells outside said active device area, and 3) a region outside said active device area;
- developing said resist so that said resist is removed from said region wherein, said range of metro cell edge slopes are at or within said range of feature edge slopes at least in part because said region sufficiently detered etch rate reduction of a plasma etch used to form said metro cell edge slopes, said etch rate reduction caused by reactions between said plasma and a resist layer that existed on said mask outside said active device area during said plasma etch, said region exposing said opaque layer to said plasma during said plasma etch.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.