Patent · US Active

Shape metrology for photomasks

US9405185B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by

0References

13Claims

0Family size

Assignee

ADVANCED MASK TECHNOLOGY CENTER GMBH & CO. KG · DE

Inventors

Clemens Utzny · Dresden, DE
Markus Bender · Dresden, DE
Christian Buergel · Rohrbach, DE
Albrecht Ullrich · Dresden, DE

Key dates

Filing date	Apr 7, 2014
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Apr 25, 2034

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG03F1/84
WIPO fieldMeasurement
WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a photomask includes forming a mask pattern with a critical mask feature on a photomask. Shape information which is descriptive for an outline of the critical mask feature is obtained from the photomask. The shape information contains position information identifying the positions of landmarks on the outline relative to each other. The landmarks may indicate local curvature extrema, points of inflexion, sharp bends in the curvature and/or local curvature-change maxima in the outline of the mask feature, respectively. The shape information may enable a shape metrology which is not completely based on rectangular approximations of mask features.

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