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US 8,133,661 B2Granted
Superimpose photomask and method of patterning
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsHsiao Chih Chang, Dong-Hsu Cheng, Chih-Chiang Tu
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Abstract
Provided is a photomask that includes a substrate having a first region and a second region, a first pattern disposed in the first region of the substrate, and a second pattern disposed in the second region of the substrate. The first and second patterns are a decomposition of a design pattern to be transferred onto a wafer in a lithography process.
Claims13
A method of transferring a design pattern onto a wafer in a lithography process, comprising:
- providing a photomask having first and second patterns disposed in first and second areas, respectively, the first and second patterns being different and are a decomposition of the design pattern;
- performing a first exposure with the first and second patterns of the photomask to transfer the first pattern to a first area of the wafer and the second pattern to a second area of the wafer;
- adjusting a relative position between the wafer and the photomask by a distance substantially less than a scanner field;
- and
- performing a second exposure with the first and second patterns of the photomask to transfer the first pattern to a third area of the wafer and the second pattern to the first area of the wafer, wherein the first pattern and the second pattern overlap in the first area of the wafer such that the design pattern is formed in the first area.
2 more elements
A method of transferring a design pattern onto a wafer in a lithography process, comprising:
- providing a photomask having first and second patterns disposed in first and second areas, respectively, the first and second patterns are a decomposition of the design pattern;
- positioning a scanner at a position;
- performing first exposures with the first and second patterns of the photomask such that a set of first patterns is transferred onto a first row of the wafer and a set of second patterns is transferred onto a second row of the wafer;
- positioning the scanner at the position with an offset less than a scanner field;
- performing second exposures with the first and second patterns of the photomask such that another set of second patterns is transferred onto the first row thereby forming a set of design patterns, and another set of first patterns is transferred onto the second row thereby forming another set of design patterns;
- and
- performing an etch process on the wafer to form a circuit pattern having a first feature and a second feature different from the first feature, wherein the first feature is transferred from the first pattern on the photomask and the second feature is transferred from the second pattern on the photomask.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.