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US 7,023,528 B2Granted
Hybrid electronic mask
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsLouis L. Hsu, Carl J. Radens, Li-Kong Wang, Kwong Hon Wong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electronically programmable mask for lithography has an array of individually controllable light sources aligned with an array of individually controllable liquid crystals, so that individual pixels may be turned on or off and phase-shifted to provide a desired light intensity distribution on a wafer. The mask may be used in a contact printing mode or in a reduction projection mode.
Claims11
Apparatus for generating a distribution of light intensity comprising:
- a set of individually controllable light sources capable of contact printing disposed in an array covering an object region of a transverse source plane positioned along an optic axis with respect to an image plane, and light from a selected set of illuminated light sources in said array exposes a corresponding set of selected pixels in said image plane;
- further comprising an array of individually controllable phase shift pixels aligned with said array of controllable light sources for illuminating and phase-shifting selected pixels;
- and
- further comprising output control means for controlling light output of selected pixels and in which a subset of buffer pixels of said array of controllable light sources are disposed between pixels of opposite phase, said subset of buffer pixels being controlled to have light output below a threshold amount.
1 more element
Apparatus for generating a distribution of light intensity comprising:
- a set of individually controllable light sources having substantially adjacent edges and capable of contact printing disposed in an array covering an object region of a transverse source plane positioned along an optic axis with respect to an image plane, whereby a selected set of illuminated light sources in said array expose a corresponding set of selected pixels in said image plane;
- further comprising an array of individually controllable phase shift pixels aligned with said array of controllable light sources for illuminating and phase-shifting selected pixels;
- and
- further comprising output control means for controlling light output of selected pixels and in which a subset of buffer pixels of said array of controllable light sources are disposed between pixels of opposite phase, said subset of buffer pixels being controlled to have light output below a threshold amount.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.