CN116931364A - Stain removal method for mask - Google Patents
Stain removal method for mask Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CN116931364A CN116931364A CN202310925138.1A CN202310925138A CN116931364A CN 116931364 A CN116931364 A CN 116931364A CN 202310925138 A CN202310925138 A CN 202310925138A CN 116931364 A CN116931364 A CN 116931364A
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- CN
- China
- Prior art keywords
- mask
- mask plate
- cleaning
- stains
- temperature environment
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Pending
Links
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 52
- 238000004140 cleaning Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 59
- 238000007710 freezing Methods 0.000 claims description 11
- 230000008014 freezing Effects 0.000 claims description 11
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- 238000007654 immersion Methods 0.000 claims description 8
- 239000003814 drug Substances 0.000 claims description 6
- 229940079593 drug Drugs 0.000 claims description 4
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000002791 soaking Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- 238000009835 boiling Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 abstract description 7
- 239000000428 dust Substances 0.000 abstract description 5
- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 description 23
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 12
- 239000000356 contaminant Substances 0.000 description 10
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 6
- 238000011109 contamination Methods 0.000 description 5
- 239000003344 environmental pollutant Substances 0.000 description 5
- 231100000719 pollutant Toxicity 0.000 description 5
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 description 5
- 238000000059 patterning Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000002203 pretreatment Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000007547 defect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 3
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 238000005457 optimization Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000001259 photo etching Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 2
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000000853 adhesive Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000001070 adhesive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002411 adverse Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008602 contraction Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008021 deposition Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007598 dipping method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000010419 fine particle Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000001802 infusion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012805 post-processing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000006467 substitution reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004381 surface treatment Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002699 waste material Substances 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
- G03F1/00—Originals for photomechanical production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g., masks, photo-masks, reticles; Mask blanks or pellicles therefor; Containers specially adapted therefor; Preparation thereof
- G03F1/68—Preparation processes not covered by groups G03F1/20 - G03F1/50
- G03F1/82—Auxiliary processes, e.g. cleaning or inspecting
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Preparing Plates And Mask In Photomechanical Process (AREA)
Abstract
The invention provides a method for removing stains from a mask. A mask is an image processing technique for extracting an object or region of interest from an image; the working principle is that a mask plate prepared in advance is utilized, the region matched with the mask plate is extracted by applying the mask plate to image processing, and other regions are ignored; the mask is easy to be stained with dirt such as dust from air in actual use, and the working efficiency is affected; the traditional cleaning method has the problem that the mask is not thoroughly cleaned, and stains generated in the using process of the mask are difficult to clean; the stain removal method provided by the invention can effectively remove stains of the mask, increase the service efficiency of the mask and prolong the service life of the mask.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of masks, in particular to a method for removing stains from masks.
Background
In the fabrication of semiconductor devices on a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, multiple material deposition and patterning processes are typically required, and reticles (or photomasks) are the essential components in the patterning process. Before the formal manufacture of semiconductor products, a set of patterns is required to be correspondingly designed according to the products, and a mask plate on which pattern images are reproduced is usually manufactured corresponding to each pattern.
A reticle is an image processing technique for post-processing and optimization. The mask plate comprises a light transmission area and a light shielding area which are designed according to a specific layout, and can be used for a patterning process on a silicon wafer after being installed on a photoetching machine. It aims to improve the boundary in the patterning process, eliminate noise or unnecessary details, and improve the quality and accuracy of the mask. The repeated utilization of the mask is affected by the occurrence of partial particles and contamination on the mask in the process, so that the service life and efficiency of the mask are reduced. And stains on the mask plate in the process cannot be removed by conventional medicine dipping and plasma gas bombardment, and a large amount of stains still remain on the mask plate after cleaning.
The method for removing the mask stains proves that the particles and the stains can be effectively removed in practical application. Under the conditions of cold treatment and high temperature treatment, the microstructure of residual particles such as organic matters or dust is changed, residues are not easy to generate in the cleaning process, and most of stains on the mask are removed after cleaning compared with the conventional chemical immersion and plasma gas bombardment removal.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a method for removing stains on a mask, which can effectively remove stains which cannot be removed by conventional cleaning.
The method for removing mask stains provided by the invention comprises the following steps:
s1, removing a mask plate stained with stains after use;
s2, performing cold treatment on the taken mask plate for a period of time;
s3, exposing the mask plate to a high-temperature environment;
s4, heating the mask plate in a high-temperature environment;
s5, keeping the mask plate in a high-temperature environment for a certain time;
s6, taking out the mask plate from the high-temperature environment;
s7, soaking the mask plate with conventional medicines or carrying out plasma bombardment cleaning.
Further, the cold treatment is a freezing treatment; the freezing treatment time was 20 minutes. The temperature of the high-temperature environment is 150 ℃; the holding time of the high temperature environment was 10 minutes.
Preferably, the high temperature environment comprises a microwave heating environment, a boiling heating environment and a steam heating environment.
Preferably, the conventional immersion in the cleaning step includes immersing the reticle using a pure water solution.
Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects that above-mentioned at least one technical scheme that this description embodiment adopted can reach include at least:
first, the pretreatment of the mask plate by cold-hot alternation can effectively remove particles/contamination which cannot be removed by normal cleaning and plasma gas bombardment. Specifically, this process combines the effects of low and high temperatures to cause small expansion and contraction of particles and contaminants under the influence of temperature changes. Such a treatment weakens the adhesion of particles and contaminants to the mask surface and is thus easier to remove. By the method provided by the invention, the surface of the mask can be comprehensively and thoroughly cleaned, and the accuracy and stability of photoetching and processing processes are ensured.
Secondly, the invention effectively reduces the scrapping condition of the mask plate caused by particles or contamination by a cold-hot alternating pretreatment method. In conventional cleaning and plasma gas bombardment, etc., fine particles and contaminants that are difficult to remove may remain on the mask surface, resulting in defects and failures in production. The method provided by the invention can thoroughly remove the pollutants which are difficult to treat, and ensure the purity and the integrity of the mask surface. By using the cleaning method of the invention, the particles and pollutants on the surface of the mask are effectively eliminated under the cold treatment and high-temperature environment, thereby remarkably reducing the defect and rejection rate of the products caused by the particles and pollutants. The invention can not deform or damage the mask, is beneficial to prolonging the service life of the mask, and further reduces the rejection rate and the replacement cost of the mask. Practical application of the technology shows that after the method provided by the invention is used, the rejection rate of the mask plate in the production process is obviously reduced, so that the utilization efficiency of the mask and the stability of a production line are greatly improved. The invention is beneficial to saving production cost, improves the quality and consistency of products, and brings remarkable economic and technical advantages for related industries.
Thirdly, by the pretreatment method, the purity of the surface of the mask plate can be ensured, and the adverse effect of particles and pollutants on industry is reduced, so that the quality of products and the stability of the manufacturing process are improved. The cold-hot alternating mask pretreatment method is not only suitable for various mask types, but also has wide application prospect in various application fields. The method provides an efficient and reliable mask processing scheme for related industries, is expected to promote technical progress, and brings remarkable economic and technical advantages for industrial development.
Drawings
In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of particles/contaminants that a reticle cannot remove;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of particles/contaminants that cannot be removed by conventional chemical immersion cleaning and plasma bombardment;
FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the effective particle/stain removal after using the method provided by the present invention;
fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method for removing reticle stains provided by the invention.
Detailed Description
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Other advantages and effects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure, which describes the embodiments of the present invention with reference to specific examples. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the invention. The invention may be practiced or carried out in other embodiments that depart from the specific details, and the details of the present description may be modified or varied from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It should be noted that the following embodiments and features in the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
It is noted that various aspects of the embodiments are described below within the scope of the following claims. It should be apparent that the aspects described herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure and/or function described herein is merely illustrative. Based on the present disclosure, one skilled in the art will appreciate that one aspect described herein may be implemented independently of any other aspect, and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, apparatus may be implemented and/or methods practiced using any number and aspects set forth herein. In addition, such apparatus may be implemented and/or such methods practiced using other structure and/or functionality in addition to one or more of the aspects set forth herein.
In addition, in the following description, specific details are provided in order to provide a thorough understanding of the examples. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
The prior art reticle cleaning technique cannot effectively remove particles/contaminants that cannot be removed by normal cleaning and plasma gas bombardment.
Based on this, the embodiment of the present specification proposes a reticle stain removal scheme: according to the scheme, the purpose of effectively removing particles/stains which cannot be removed by normal cleaning and plasma gas bombardment is achieved by alternately using freezing and high temperature to pretreat the mask.
As shown in fig. 1, particles and contamination which cannot be removed exist on the three used masks, so that the subsequent use of the masks is affected.
The 1 st mask plate shown in fig. 1 is subjected to conventional chemical immersion cleaning, and the 2 nd and 3 rd mask plates are subjected to plasma bombardment cleaning, namely, the mask plates are immersed into pure water solution for cleaning. Plasma bombardment cleaning is a surface treatment technique that cleans the surface of materials by using high energy particles generated by plasma to remove contaminants and undesirable layers. The plasma bombardment cleaning method provided by the embodiment comprises the following specific steps:
s1: positioning and fixing a mask: the reticle is properly placed on the area to be protected after use. It is secured to the surface of the material using a suitable clamp or adhesive to ensure a tight fit of the reticle to the material.
S2: the plasma cleaning device is configured: and configuring plasma cleaning equipment and adjusting parameters according to the cleaning requirements. Including selecting a suitable plasma gas, adjusting gas pressure, power, processing time, etc.
S3: the cleaning process is started: the plasma cleaning apparatus is activated to allow plasma to be generated in the cleaning chamber. The high energy particles in the plasma will bombard the material surface, removing contaminants and undesirable layers.
S4: cleaning completion and mask removal: and closing the equipment after the plasma bombardment cleaning process is finished according to the cleaning time and the equipment parameters. The reticle is then removed, ensuring that no damage is done to the cleaned area.
As shown in fig. 2, after a period of time of conventional drug immersion cleaning or plasma bombardment cleaning, the stains on the 3 reticles are partially removed, but a large amount of stains still remain on the reticle and are not completely removed, and certain defects exist in subsequent use.
The particles/contaminants which cannot be removed by normal cleaning and plasma gas bombardment can be effectively removed by pretreating the photomask by alternating freezing and high temperature. After cold treatment and high temperature, the contamination of the reticle surface can undergo a series of changes that make it easy to remove by plasma bombardment cleaning. The specific pretreatment method comprises the steps of firstly freezing the mask plate for 20 minutes and baking the mask plate at the high temperature of 150 ℃ for 10 minutes alternately for pretreatment, and finally cleaning the pretreated mask plate by utilizing the conventional cleaning or plasma bombardment cleaning of the steps.
Example 1:
the embodiment is a cleaning embodiment of the 1 st mask, and the method for removing stains from the mask provided by the invention further comprises the following steps:
s1: preparing a mask: taking out the mask plate with stains on the surface;
s2: cold-treating a mask: freezing the used mask plate for 20 minutes;
s3: high-temperature heating mask plate: the mask plate after cold treatment is heated for 10 minutes, and the baking temperature is kept at 150 ℃;
s4: conventional medicine soaking and cleaning: immersing the mask plate into pure water solution for conventional cleaning;
s6: cleaning completion and mask removal: and removing the mask after the conventional drug infusion cleaning process is finished according to the cleaning time, so as to ensure that the cleaned area is not damaged.
Example 2:
the embodiment is a cleaning embodiment of the 2 nd and 3 rd mask plates, and the stain removing method of the mask plate provided by the invention comprises the following steps:
s1: preparing a mask: taking out the mask plate with stains on the surface;
s2: cold-treating a mask: freezing the used mask plate for 20 minutes;
s3: high-temperature heating mask plate: the mask plate after cold treatment is heated for 10 minutes, and the baking temperature is kept at 150 ℃;
s4: the plasma cleaning device is configured: according to the cleaning requirement, configuring plasma cleaning equipment and adjusting parameters; plasma gas is selected, gas pressure, power and processing time are adjusted.
S5: the cleaning process is started: the plasma cleaning apparatus is activated to allow plasma to be generated in the cleaning chamber. The high energy particles in the plasma will bombard the material surface, removing contaminants and undesirable layers.
S6: cleaning completion and mask removal: and closing the equipment after the plasma bombardment cleaning process is finished according to the cleaning time and the equipment parameters. The reticle is then removed, ensuring that no damage is done to the cleaned area.
As shown in fig. 3, after the method for removing stains on the mask provided by the embodiment is used, stains on 3 mask blanks are removed effectively. The surface of the mask plate after cleaning is uniform, flat and free of visible flaws. After the stains are removed, the quality of the mask is obviously improved. The pattern and structure thereon can be more accurately transferred to the article, thereby improving the manufacturing accuracy and reliability of the product. After the stains are removed, the mask is not interfered by pollutants, and the reject ratio in the manufacturing process is obviously reduced, so that the production efficiency is improved, and the generation of waste products is reduced. By using the mask stain removal method provided by the embodiment, the surface of the mask is cleaned, and the quality and performance are obviously improved. Therefore, the method has wide application prospect in mask plate manufacturing and related industries, and brings substantial benefits to the development of the industry and the optimization of the production process.
As shown in fig. 4, the method for removing stains from a mask provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:
first, the reticle is subjected to a freezing process in a low temperature environment for 20 minutes. Cryogenic freezing helps to weaken the internal structure of particles or dust and become vulnerable to damage. Next, the reticle is exposed to a high temperature environment and subjected to a high temperature treatment. The high temperature treatment causes further disruption of the structure of the particles or dust, making it more prone to flaking and removal. After the cold-hot alternating treatment, the mask plate is subjected to conventional chemical immersion cleaning or plasma bombardment cleaning. The conventional chemical immersion cleaning or plasma bombardment cleaning can further remove residual particles or dust on the surface of the mask plate, so that the surface of the mask plate is ensured to be completely cleaned.
In summary, the stain removal method for the mask provided by the invention can effectively remove stains generated in the using process of the mask, so that the cleaning degree of the mask is greatly improved, and the efficiency of the subsequent mask in use is further improved.
The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions easily contemplated by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention should be included in the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the invention is subject to the protection scope of the claims.
Claims (5)
1. A method for removal of reticle stains, comprising the steps of:
s1, taking out a mask plate stained with stains after use;
s2, performing cold treatment on the taken mask plate for a period of time;
s3, exposing the mask plate to a high-temperature environment;
s4, heating the mask plate in a high-temperature environment;
s5, keeping the mask plate in a high-temperature environment for a certain time;
s6, taking out the mask plate from the high-temperature environment;
s7, soaking the mask plate with conventional medicines or carrying out plasma bombardment cleaning.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the cold treatment is freezing treatment; the freezing treatment time was 20 minutes.
3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: the temperature of the high-temperature environment is 150 ℃; the holding time of the high temperature environment was 10 minutes.
4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that: the high temperature environment comprises a microwave heating environment, a boiling heating environment and a steam heating environment.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the conventional immersion in the cleaning step includes immersing the reticle using a pure water solution.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202310925138.1A CN116931364A (en) | 2023-07-26 | 2023-07-26 | Stain removal method for mask |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202310925138.1A CN116931364A (en) | 2023-07-26 | 2023-07-26 | Stain removal method for mask |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CN116931364A true CN116931364A (en) | 2023-10-24 |
Family
ID=88393919
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202310925138.1A Pending CN116931364A (en) | 2023-07-26 | 2023-07-26 | Stain removal method for mask |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CN (1) | CN116931364A (en) |
-
2023
- 2023-07-26 CN CN202310925138.1A patent/CN116931364A/en active Pending
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