Electron beam mask having dummy stripe(s) and lithographic method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using an E-beam mask having at least one defective pattern

A lithographic method in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of:

• manufacturing an E-beam mask by producing on a membrane a main pattern comprising a plurality of stripes and at least one dummy pattern comprising a plurality of dummy stripes, the number of stripes of said main pattern and the number of stripes of each said dummy pattern being equal, and the stripes of said main pattern and the stripes of each said dummy pattern corresponding to one another with respect to the patterns thereof;
• subsequently inspecting said mask to uncover defective ones of said stripes, and storing information indicative of which of said stripes have said defects;
• and
• directing the E-beam onto areas of a resist through respective ones of the stripes of the E-beam mask in a sequence wherein the E-beam is directed through the stripes one after another as long as said stripes do not have said defects, and wherein, based on said stored information, when a said defective stripe in one of the dummy and main patterns is reached during the course of said sequence, the E-beam is directed instead through a stripe outside of said one of the dummy and main patterns and which stripe has a said correspondence with said defective stripe but is itself free of a defect that would otherwise prevent the E-beam from properly transferring the image thereof to the resist.

A lithographic method in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of:

• producing a main pattern comprising a plurality of stripes on a membrane;
• subsequently inspecting said mask to uncover defective ones of said stripes, and storing information indicative of which of said stripes have said defects;
• based on said stored information, subsequently producing a number of dummy stripes corresponding to the number of defective stripes of the main pattern on said membrane in spare room outside the region bounded by said main pattern, each said dummy stripe defining an image that corresponds to that of a respective said defective stripe of the main pattern but without the defect;
• and
• directing the E-beam onto areas of a resist through respective ones of the stripes of the E-beam mask in a sequence wherein the E-beam is directed through the stripes of said main pattern one after another as long as such stripes do not have said defects, and wherein, based on said stored information, when a said defective stripe in the main pattern is reached during the course of said sequence, the E-beam is directed instead through the corresponding one of said dummy stripes.

A lithographic method in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of:

• manufacturing an E-beam mask by producing a main pattern comprising a plurality of stripes on a membrane, and at least some of the stripes having the same pattern;
• subsequently inspecting said mask to uncover defective ones of said stripes, and storing information indicative of which of said stripes have the same pattern and which of said stripes have said defects;
• based on said inspecting, producing a dummy stripe in spare room on said membrane outside the region bounded by said main pattern when all of said at least some of the stripes having the same pattern are said defective stripes, the material of the additional dummy stripe having the same pattern as said at least some of said stripes of the main pattern, and the additional dummy stripe not having any said defect, and
• subsequently, and based on said stored information, directing the E-beam onto areas of a resist through respective ones of the stripes of the E-beam mask in a sequence wherein the E-beam is directed through the stripes of said main pattern that do not have said defects, and wherein, based on said stored information, when a said defective stripe in the main pattern is reached during the course of said sequence, the E-beam is directed instead through another one of said stripes of the main pattern that has the same pattern as the defective stripe as long as said another one of the stripes is not a said defective stripe, but wherein, when all of the at least some of said stripes of the main pattern have defects, the E-beam is instead directed through said additional dummy stripe.