Method of manufacturing semiconductor device
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsJee-Eun Jung, Kyoung-Yun Baek, Jeong-Hoon Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes generating a mask layout of patterns in which the distance between adjacent ones of the patterns is equal to or less than a resolution of a lithography process, the patterns are apportioned among a plurality of masks such that in each of the masks the space between adjacent ones of the patterns is greater than the resolution, and a dual pattern is added to one of the masks. A semiconductor pattern is formed on a substrate using the mask(s) and the mask to which the dual pattern has been added. Patterns having a pitch equal to or less than the resolution may be formed on the semiconductor device.
Claims19
A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
- using a computer program to generate an original layout of patterns wherein adjacent ones of the patterns are spaced from each other by a distance equal to or less than a resolution of a lithography process;
- fabricating a plurality of lithography masks, including by:
- apportioning the patterns of the original layout among the lithography masks in such a way that the lithography masks have mask patterns derived from the original layout, and in each of the lithography masks each one of the mask patterns is spaced from the mask pattern closest thereto by a distance greater than the resolution,
- checking the layout of the patterns apportioned to each of the lithography masks to ascertain whether each of the patterns and the pattern closest thereto in the layout are spaced a distance equal to at least twice the resolution, and
- incorporating, into one of the lithography masks, a dual pattern in a region between respective ones of the patterns determined by said checking to be spaced a distance equal to at least twice the resolution,
- the dual pattern corresponding to at least part of one of said mask patterns of another of the lithography masks;
- and
- forming a semiconductor pattern on a substrate using all of the lithography masks including that having the dual pattern.
A method of fabricating a set of lithography masks for use in a lithography process, the method comprising:
- producing an original mask layout including patterns between which a space is equal to or less than a resolution of the lithography process;
- separating the patterns into first respective and second respective ones of the patterns based on whether distances between adjacent ones of the patterns are each greater than the resolution;
- fabricating a first mask having first patterns corresponding to the first respective patterns of the original mask layout, and a second mask having second patterns corresponding to the second respective patterns of the original mask layout, and
- wherein the fabricating of the second mask also includes checking a layout of the second patterns to ascertain whether closest ones of the second patterns are spaced a distance equal to at least twice the resolution, and
- forming in the second mask a dual pattern a region between closest ones of the second patterns determined by said checking to be spaced a distance at least twice the resolution,
- wherein the dual pattern corresponds to at least part of one of the first respective patterns of the original mask layout, and
- wherein contours of the first and second masks, which are simulated according to process variations, are substantially the same.
A method for use in manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
- generating an original mask layout including patterns between which a space is equal to or less than a resolution of a lithography process;
- for each of the patterns, determining the shortest distance between the pattern and a pattern closest thereto in the layout;
- apportioning the patterns among a plurality of layouts, respectively, based on whether the shortest distances between the patterns of the original mask layout are each greater than the resolution;
- and
- fabricating a plurality of masks, wherein the fabricating of the masks includes:
- fabricating a first mask so as to have first patterns conforming to a first one of the layouts,
- fabricating a second mask so as to have second patterns conforming to a second one of the layouts, and so as to have a dual pattern whose size and shape are the same as those of at least part of one of the first patterns of the first mask, and such that the dual pattern is formed between one of the second patterns and another of the second patterns closest thereto at a relative location in the second mask corresponding to that of said one of the first patterns in the first mask, and wherein the shortest distance between said one and said other of the second patterns is equal to at least twice the resolution,
- whereby in a plan view in which the first and second masks are vertically aligned, the dual pattern of the second mask and said one of the first patterns of the first mask overlap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.