Pattern forming method, photomask manufacturing method, semiconductor device manufacturing method, and computer program product

A photomask manufacturing method comprising:

• preparing a substrate including a light shield film on which a resist film is formed, the light shield film being formed on a main surface of the substrate;
• exposing the resist film to form a latent image of a pattern on the resist film;
• developing the resist film by flowing a developing solution on the resist film to form a resist pattern, the developing the resist film comprising partitioning the main surface of the substrate into M (≧2) regions and determining a correction exposure dose for each of the M regions, the determining the correction exposure dose including determining a correction exposure dose for an i-th (1≦i≦M) region so that an actual pattern dimension of a pattern on the i-th region matches a design pattern dimension based on a pattern opening ratio of a pattern located on an upstream region which is further upstream than the i-th region along a flow direction of the developing solution;
• and light shield film using the resist pattern as a mask.

A semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising:

• preparing a substrate including a semiconductor substrate:
• forming a resist pattern on the substrate by a lithography process using a photomask, a manufacturing method of the photomask comprising preparing a substrate including a transparent substrate and a light shield film formed on the transparent substrate;
• forming a pattern in the light shield film by a pattern forming method, the pattern forming method comprising forming a resist film on a main surface of a substrate;
• exposing the resist film to form a latent image of a pattern on the resist film;
• developing the resist film by flowing a developing solution on the resist film to form a resist pattern, the developing the resist film comprising partitioning the main surface of the substrate into M (≧2) regions and determining a correction exposure dose for each of the M regions, the determining the correction exposure dose including determining a correction exposure dose for an i-th (1≦i≦M) region so that an actual pattern dimension of a pattern on the i-th region matches a design pattern dimension based on a pattern opening ratio of a pattern located on an upstream region which is further upstream than the i-th region along a flow direction of the developing solution;
• and etching the light shield film using the resist pattern as a mask.

A computer program product configured to store program instructions for execution on a computer system enabling the computer system to perform instructions for determining an exposure dose of a resist film in a pattern forming method,

• the pattern forming method comprising forming a resist film on a main surface of a substrate;
• exposing the resist film to form a latent image of a pattern on the resist film;
• developing the resist film by flowing a developing solution on the resist film to form a resist pattern;
• and forming a pattern on the substrate by etching the substrate using the resist pattern as a mask;
• the instructions for determining exposure dose comprising:
• an instruction for partitioning the main surface of the substrate into M (≧2) regions, and
• an instruction for determining a correction exposure dose for an i-th (1≦i≦M) region so that an actual pattern dimension of a pattern on the i-th region matches a design pattern dimension based on a pattern opening ratio of a pattern located on an upstream region which is further upstream than the i-th region along a flow direction of a-flew-of the developing solution.