Patent · US Active

Techniques for reducing degradation and/or modifying feature size of photomasks

US8568959B2 · kind B2 · utility

2Cited by

2References

24Claims

0Family size

Assignee

International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

Peter H. Bartlau · South Burlington, US
Thomas B. Faure · Saint Albans, US
Alfred Wagner

Key dates

Filing date	Oct 3, 2008
Grant date	Oct 29, 2013
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Mar 4, 2031

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG03F7/70866
WIPO fieldOptics
WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A photomask includes a light transmitting substrate and an absorber layer adjacent thereto. The absorber layer includes a silicide, such as molybdenum silicide, patterned into a plurality of features. The surrounding environment is controlled to prevent undesirable growth by oxidation of the absorber layer when the mask is exposed to light while being used to fabricate integrated circuits. In another aspect, the surrounding environment is controlled to encourage desirable growth by oxidation of the absorber layer when the mask is exposed to light.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.