JP2003068616A - Mask, semiconductor device and exposure apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent deterioration and deformation of a mask due to forces applied to the mask from an exposure apparatus at accelerating, when a mask is moved at high speed for transferring a pattern by exposing with an electron beam. SOLUTION: Related to a mask comprising a structure in which each exposure unit region 16 is enclosed by beams 18a formed at the boundary part, a group of exposure unit regions is placed on the mask so as to constitute a polygonal beam structure region 15, comprising exclusively obtuse angles. Or a stress relaxation region, for absorbing the stress, is provided on the periphery of the beam structure region 15. Or the exposure unit regions 16 are arranged staggered.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pattern transfer mask used in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal device, a semiconductor device manufactured using the mask, and an alignment mechanism for the mask. The present invention relates to a provided exposure apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electron beam (EB) exposure technique is a technique which has recently been attracting attention as one of semiconductor device manufacturing techniques. It is expected as a technique suitable for forming an ultrafine pattern because it is superior in resolution and depth of focus to the conventional light exposure. However, a so-called direct writing method of writing a pattern on a wafer with an electron beam has a low throughput and is not suitable for a mass production process in which productivity is important. Therefore, as in the case of light exposure, a method has been proposed in which an electron beam is selectively transmitted using a mask to transfer the mask pattern onto the wafer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of a partial batch method in electron beam exposure. As shown in the figure, an electron beam 7 emitted from an electron gun (not shown) is shaped into a rectangular beam by a shaping aperture 1 which is a first mask, and then a second beam is formed.
The stencil mask 2 which is the mask of No. 2 is irradiated, the wafer 3 is exposed by the electron beam 7 that has passed through the stencil mask 2, and the pattern 4 is transferred onto the wafer 3. The stencil mask 2 has a partial batch opening 5 and a variable shaping opening 6.
Are formed. The partial collective opening 5 is a hole having a shape of a pattern repeatedly appearing on the wafer, and the variable shaping opening 6 is an opening for directly drawing a pattern having a low appearance frequency. This method is intended to improve the throughput by transferring a part of the repetitive patterns at once.

A method that takes this idea one step further is an electron beam projection exposure (EPL).
hography) method. EPL is a method in which direct writing is not performed and all are transferred using a mask. In Figure 7, EP
3 shows a standard stencil mask for L. FIG. 7A is a plan view of the stencil mask 8 for EPL, and this mask is provided with two rectangular beam structure regions 9. FIG. 7B is an enlarged view of a part of the beam structure region 9. As shown in this figure, the beam structure region 9 is a region in which a plurality of exposure unit regions 10 are arranged in a grid pattern. The exposure unit area 10 is an area corresponding to one shot when the electron beam is irradiated. The range of exposure with one shot of the electron beam is usually a part of the inside of the exposure unit region 10 to prevent the influence of electron scattering around the beam. Exposure unit area 1
At 0, transmission regions 11 having various shapes corresponding to the pattern shape are formed as through holes. Also, FIG.
7C shows one exposure unit area 1 shown in FIG.
It is a figure of the cross section X of 0. As shown in the figure, when the stencil mask 8 is manufactured, it is preferable that the transmissive region 11 is formed after the region to be the exposure unit region 10 is previously etched to form a thin film. This is because when the film thickness of the exposure unit region is large, the dimensional accuracy of the pattern may be impaired due to the microloading effect in the dry etching process for forming the through hole (transmission region 11). In the stencil mask manufactured in this manner, as shown in FIG. 7C, the exposure unit region 10 has a structure in which the periphery is supported by the beam 12 having a thickness corresponding to the film thickness of the mask.

As a mask used for electron beam exposure, in addition to the above-mentioned stencil mask in which a through hole is formed in a silicon wafer, a heavy metal material that scatters or absorbs an electron beam in a portion other than the transmission region on the thin film is used. There is also proposed a scalpel-type mask in which an electron beam is allowed to pass only through a transmission region by forming a film.

[0006]

However, the structure of the stencil mask as described above has a problem that stress is concentrated on a part of the mask when a force is applied from the outside of the mask. For example, in the arrangement shown in FIG. 7A, since the beam structure region 9 has a shape having a right angle, stress is likely to concentrate on the four corners 13. As a result, the four corners 13 of the beam structure region 9 are
Therefore, there is a problem that the mask starts to deteriorate and cracks are easily generated in the mask. Furthermore, since the exposure unit regions 10 are arranged in a grid, there is a high possibility that the beam 12 supporting each exposure unit region will be distorted by external stress. That is, the exposure unit area and thus the transmission area may be deformed. Deformation of the mask not only shortens the mask life, but also reduces the yield if a semiconductor device is manufactured using the deformed mask. In particular,
In the EPL, the reduction rate at the time of transfer projection is set to 1/4 in order to include all patterns in one mask (two masks when a complementary mask is required). Therefore, the problem is more serious than in the case of the EB direct writing partial batch exposure in which the reduction ratio is about several tenths, and the deformation of the transmissive region causes the distortion of the pattern immediately transferred or the connection between the patterns. It appears as a gap.

Since the electron beam exposure apparatus normally repeats high speed movement and stopping of the mask, the acceleration of the mask reaches 5 g (g is gravitational acceleration). Stress corresponding to the acceleration is applied to the mask from the mask mounting portion of the exposure apparatus. It is expected that the stress applied to the mask will be further increased by increasing the acceleration in order to improve the throughput. This problem is not limited to a stencil mask having a through hole, and a scalpel-type mask having no hole may have a similar problem because only the exposure unit region has a thin film shape. Therefore, an urgent solution to the above problems is desired.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a new mask that solves the above problems. A second object is to provide a highly accurate semiconductor device by using this new mask. Furthermore, in order to use this new mask, an exposure apparatus corresponding to this mask is required, and therefore it is a third object to provide this exposure apparatus.

[0009]

The present invention proposes four types of masks as means for solving the above problems.

A first mask of the present invention is a mask for pattern transfer, which comprises a plurality of exposure unit areas and a beam formed at a boundary portion between adjacent exposure unit areas, and is arranged adjacent to each other. The group of exposure unit regions thus formed are arranged on the mask so as to form a polygonal beam structure region having only obtuse angles.

The "exposure unit area" is an area corresponding to one electron beam shot. However, the exposure range may be a partial range inside the exposure unit area in order to prevent electron scattering at the boundary. Further, the "beam formed at the boundary portion" means that the region is divided into a plurality of exposure unit regions by a plurality of beams formed in a predetermined region of the mask. In other words, the boundary between the exposure unit regions is formed by the beam. The “beam structure region” is a region in which beams are formed, that is, a region in which exposure unit regions are densely arranged so as to be adjacent to each other.

As shown in the example of FIG. 7A, when the beam structure region 9 in which the group of exposure unit regions 10 is arranged has a shape with a right angle or an acute angle as an inner angle, stress is applied to the inner angle portion. Since the concentration is extremely concentrated, the shape of the region of the beam structure in which the exposure unit region is arranged is a polygon having only obtuse angles to disperse stress and prevent deterioration of the mask. The above problem can be solved in the same manner even when the beam structure region is circular or elliptical. That is,
A circle or an ellipse shall be construed as a special case where the number of corners of a “polygon consisting of obtuse angles” is infinite, and is included in the technical scope of the present invention.

A second mask of the present invention is a mask for pattern transfer, comprising a plurality of exposure unit regions and a beam formed at a boundary between adjacent exposure unit regions, and is a group of It is characterized in that a stress relaxation region for relaxing stress applied to the mask from the outside of the mask is provided around the region where the exposure unit regions are arranged adjacent to each other.

Here, the "stress relaxation region for relaxing the stress" means a region that is more easily deformed than the beam structure region.
That is, when force is applied to the mask from the outside,
This is a region provided for the purpose of absorbing the external force by the deformation of the stress relaxation region and preventing the force from being transmitted to the beam structure region. Specifically, for example, a beam having a plurality of small regions and a beam formed at the boundary between adjacent small regions, the beam being thinner than the beam formed at the boundary between the exposure unit regions. It is a structural area. Or make the area of the small area wider than the exposure unit area,
A structure in which the film thickness is made thinner than that in the exposure unit region, or only the beam is formed without forming the film is also conceivable. In addition, any structure may be used as long as it can absorb the impact from the outside and reduce the influence of the force on the exposure unit area.

Further, the "periphery" does not necessarily completely surround the beam structure region, and when the direction of the external force applied to the mask is limited to a predetermined direction, the direction of the direction. The stress relaxation region may be provided only at a position where the influence of external force can be absorbed. That is, for example, the case where the stress relaxation regions are arranged so as to sandwich the beam structure region from the left and right is also included in the scope of the present invention.

A third mask of the present invention is a mask for pattern transfer, comprising a plurality of exposure unit areas and a beam formed at a boundary between adjacent exposure unit areas, wherein the exposure is performed. The unit areas are arranged in a zigzag pattern in a predetermined direction. This is because the exposure unit areas are arranged in a zigzag pattern instead of a grid pattern, that is, in a zigzag manner so that the beams that form the boundary of the exposure unit areas are not aligned in a straight line, so that distortion due to external force is less likely to occur. It is a thing.

A fourth mask of the present invention is a mask for pattern transfer, comprising a plurality of exposure unit regions and a beam formed at a boundary between adjacent exposure unit regions, wherein the beam is provided. Among them, the beams with the same direction are arranged discontinuously. When the exposure unit areas are arranged in a zigzag manner like the third mask, the beams can be prevented from being aligned in a straight line in a predetermined direction, but the other directions are the same as before. The beams may line up in a straight line. That is, the problem of mask deformation may not be avoided depending on the direction in which the force is applied. On the other hand, the fourth mask is designed to avoid the deformation and distortion of the mask regardless of the direction of the force by preventing the beams from being continuously arranged in a straight line. Specifically, for example, the shape of the exposure unit area is not a quadrangle but a polygon, so that the directions of the beams are dispersed so that the beams of the adjacent exposure unit areas are not continuously aligned on a straight line.

In the above-mentioned first, second and third masks, the shape of the exposure unit area is not limited to the quadrangle.
It may be a polygon or a circle. In this specification, a circle or an ellipse is considered as a kind of polygon having an infinite number of angles.

Needless to say, the above problems can be solved by combining the features of the first, second, third and fourth masks.

It is preferable that the exposure unit area has a thin film structure. In other words, it is preferable to perform the etching process in advance so that the portion to be the exposure unit area has an appropriate film thickness. After that, each mask is completed by providing a transmission region having a predetermined shape for transmitting energy rays, that is, the same shape as the pattern to be transferred, in the exposure unit region. If the exposure unit region is etched in advance so as to have a thin film structure, it is possible to perform highly accurate processing when forming the transmission region. However, in the present invention, the “transmissive region” means a region provided on the mask and capable of selectively transmitting energy rays, and is not necessarily a through hole.

The "energy rays" include all irradiation rays used in the exposure technique such as electron beams, ion beams, X-rays and ultraviolet rays. Also, "energy sensitive substrate"
Can cause a predetermined reaction when irradiated with an energy ray used as an irradiation ray so that an area where a pattern should be formed and an area other than that can be distinguished (that is, a pattern is transferred). It refers to a substrate made of a material, and includes a case where a layer made of such a material is provided on a wafer.

Next, in the semiconductor device of the present invention, such a mask is irradiated with energy rays in each exposure unit area, and the energy rays passing through the transmission area are applied to a predetermined energy sensitive substrate to form a predetermined shape. It is a semiconductor device manufactured through a process of transferring a pattern onto the energy sensitive substrate.

In the exposure apparatus of the present invention, such a mask is irradiated with energy rays for each exposure unit area, and the energy rays passing through the transmission area are applied to a predetermined energy sensitive substrate to form a pattern of a predetermined shape. Is an exposure apparatus that transfers the laser beam onto the energy-sensitive substrate, and is an exposure apparatus that includes an alignment means for aligning the position of the mask with respect to the energy-sensitive substrate to a desired position. Since the mask of the present invention is different from the conventional mask in the arrangement or shape of the exposure unit areas, the exposure apparatus is provided with a corresponding alignment mechanism.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 First, an embodiment of the first mask of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a stencil mask 14 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the stencil mask 14, and two octagonal beam structure regions 15 having only obtuse internal angles are provided on the 8-inch mask. Here, the beam structure region 15 is a region in which a group of exposure unit regions 16 are arranged adjacent to each other. The exposure unit area 16 is an area that serves as a unit when the electron beam is irradiated, that is, an area corresponding to one shot of the electron beam. The number of beam structure regions 15 is two.
The number of exposure unit regions 16 is not limited to one, but may be three or more, or conversely, all the exposure unit regions 16 may be densely arranged in one beam structure region 15. FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of the region 19 of FIG. In the present embodiment, as shown in this figure, the exposure unit regions 16 are arranged so that the beam structure regions 15 are octagonal.

In the present embodiment, each exposure unit area 16 is a square whose one side is slightly over 1 mm. Beams 18a are formed at the boundaries between adjacent exposure unit regions, and each exposure unit region 16 is surrounded by four beams 18a. When irradiating with an electron beam, in order to prevent the influence of electron scattering around the beam 18a, the inside of the exposure unit region 16
An electron beam is applied to the exposure area 30 of a square of millimeters.
In the exposure area 30, the transmissive regions 17 having various shapes corresponding to the pattern shape are formed as through holes. Further, FIG. 1C is a diagram of a cross section Y of one exposure unit area 16 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1C, the stencil mask 14 has a structure in which an exposure unit region 16 of a thin film structure is supported by a beam 18 on the periphery. In this embodiment, a mask having such a structure is manufactured as follows. First, the SiO ₂ oxide film 28 and the silicon layer 29 are formed on the SiO ₂ oxide film 28 on the silicon substrate 27. The silicon substrate having such a structure can be easily formed by using a technique such as wafer bonding. Next, SiO
_The silicon substrate 27 is etched by using the _second oxide film 28 as a stopper to thin the portion to be the exposure unit region 16. Further, the silicon layer 29 is dry-etched from the opposite direction to form the transmission region 17.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of EPL using the mask of FIG. The electron beam 7 emitted from the electron gun and passing through the rectangular shaping aperture 1 is the stencil mask 1.
The exposure range 30 of each of the four exposure unit areas 16 is sequentially irradiated. Further, the wafer 3 is exposed by the electron beam 7 that has passed through the transmission area 17 formed in the exposure area 30,
The pattern 4 is reduced and transferred onto the top at a reduction ratio of 1/4. That is, the exposure range 30 of 1 mm square is 2 on the wafer 3.
It corresponds to a 50 μm square area.

According to the mask shown in FIG. 1, since the beam structure region is a polygon having only obtuse angles, stress is not extremely concentrated at the corners. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the life of the mask from being shortened due to cracks or the like.

Embodiment 2 Next, an embodiment of the second mask of the present invention will be shown. FIG. 3 shows the second embodiment.
It is a figure showing the stencil mask 20 in. Figure 3
FIG. 3A is a plan view of the stencil mask 20, showing a stress relaxation region 21 formed so as to sandwich the beam structure region 15.
It is shown. FIG. 3B shows the area 22 of FIG.
It is the figure which expanded. In the exposure unit area 16, transmission areas 17 having various shapes corresponding to the pattern shape are formed as through holes. Furthermore, a stress relaxation region 21 having a structure that is more easily deformed than the exposure unit region 16 is formed around the exposure unit region 16. In the present embodiment, the stress relaxation region 21 has a structure in which a thin film-like small region having a larger area than the exposure unit region 16 is supported by a beam 18c thinner than a beam 18b supporting the exposure unit region 16. There is. However, the structure of the stress relaxation region is not limited to the structure shown in the present embodiment, and for example, instead of the thin film structure, the entire small region is formed as a through hole. Any structure may be used as long as it is significantly affected.

With such a structure of the mask, when an external force is applied to the mask in the direction shown by the arrow 23 in FIG. 3A, the force is absorbed by the stress relaxation region 21 and the beam structure region 15 is formed. It is possible to prevent the deformation of the exposure unit area 16 constituting the. In addition, when the direction in which the external force is applied is determined, the stress relaxation region 21 may be provided only at a position that absorbs the force as in the present embodiment, but the beam structure region 15 may be surrounded. It goes without saying that the stress relaxation region 21 may be provided over the entire periphery.

Embodiment 3 Next, an embodiment of the third mask of the present invention will be shown. FIG. 4 shows the third embodiment.
It is a figure showing the stencil mask 24 in. Figure 4
(A) is a plan view of the stencil mask 24, and shows a rectangular beam structure region 15 arranged on the mask. FIG. 4B is an enlarged view of the area 25 of FIG. In the exposure unit area 16, transmission areas 17 having various shapes corresponding to the pattern shape are formed as through holes. As shown in this figure, in the present embodiment, the exposure unit areas 16 are arranged linearly in the X direction of the figure, but in the Y direction, they are arranged in a staggered manner. Are arranged so as to be displaced to the left and right by a length corresponding to ½ of the side constituting the. It should be noted that which direction the zigzag shape is made may be determined based on the direction of the external force applied to the mask.

When the exposure unit areas are arranged in a zigzag manner in this way, the beams 18d in the X direction in FIG. 4B are arranged continuously on a straight line, but the beams 18e in the Y direction are not arranged on a straight line. It is shifted left and right and discontinuously arranged. When the exposure unit regions are formed in a grid pattern as in the conventional case, the beams in the Y direction are aligned on a straight line, and therefore when the external force is applied to the mask in the X direction, the linear beams may be largely distorted. However, when they are arranged in a staggered manner as in the present embodiment, the resistance to the external force in the X direction increases, and the exposure unit area 16 can be prevented from being deformed.

Embodiment 4 Next, an embodiment of the fourth mask of the present invention will be shown. FIG. 5 shows the fourth embodiment.
6 is a diagram showing the arrangement of exposure unit areas 16 in FIG. In the present embodiment, the exposure unit region 16 has a hexagonal thin film structure, and a beam 18f formed so as to configure each side of the hexagon and a beam 18g formed so as to cross the hexagon. Has a structure in which a thin film is supported. At this time, the beams 18g crossing the exposure unit area are arranged in three different directions so that the beams 18g do not have the same orientation in the adjacent exposure unit areas. Also, the exposure unit area 1
The transparent region 17 having various shapes corresponding to the pattern shape is formed as a through hole in the reference numeral 6.

The feature of this structure is that, among the beams supporting the exposure unit region 16, the beams facing the same direction are always arranged discontinuously. For example, beam 18f and beam 1
8i has the same direction, but is arranged dislocated to the left and right in the drawing, and is discontinuous. Similarly, the beams 18g and 18h also have the same direction but are not continuously arranged. With such an arrangement, when an external force is applied to the mask, the stress is dispersed and the exposure unit area can be prevented from being deformed. Note that the structure of the present embodiment is merely an example, and similarly, any structure in which the beam is formed so as to disperse stress in various directions is included in the technical scope of the present invention. For example, the effects of the present invention can be obtained even when the regular hexagonal exposure unit regions are arranged adjacent to each other without providing the beams 18g and 18h.

Although the mask shown in each of the above embodiments is a stencil mask manufactured by using a silicon wafer, the mask of the present invention is not limited to the stencil mask and can be applied to a scalpel type mask. Is.

Fifth Embodiment Next, a semiconductor device of the present invention will be described. The semiconductor device of the present invention has the same basic configuration and manufacturing process as those of the conventional semiconductor device. However, since the mask of the present invention is used when the pattern is transferred in the manufacturing process, the accuracy of the pattern processing is high, and higher quality can be guaranteed as compared with the conventional semiconductor device. Further, since the problem of mask deformation does not occur, the yield of the manufacturing process can be improved.

Embodiment 6 Next, an exposure apparatus of the present invention will be described. The exposure apparatus is not limited to the exposure apparatus of the present invention, and the exposure apparatus is provided with a mechanism for accurately adjusting the position where the pattern is transferred. As mentioned above, electron beam exposure
Since the entire pattern is transferred by sequentially transferring and joining partial patterns, the displacement of the mask position appears as the displacement of the pattern bonding portion,
This is because the yield will be reduced.

Therefore, in the exposure apparatus of the present invention, a dedicated alignment mechanism is provided according to each of the masks shown in the first to fourth embodiments. First, a mark (alignment mark) for alignment is formed at a position suitable for each mask on the mask. In the case of the masks shown in the first to third embodiments, for example, marks are formed at two diagonal points of the exposure unit area. Further, in the case of the mask having the hexagonal exposure unit region shown in the fourth embodiment, marks are formed at three points of the hexagonal apex, for example, a mark 26 shown in FIG. However, it goes without saying that other alignment marks may be arranged.

The position measurement by detecting the alignment mark is performed, for example, by irradiating a mask with laser light and detecting light diffracted / scattered by the alignment mark by a sensor to measure the LSA (Laser Step Alignment). This is performed by a known method such as FIA (Field Image Alignment) for detecting the position of the upper alignment mark.

On the other hand, for the alignment based on the measurement result, a control program for controlling the moving direction of the mask or the wafer based on the arrangement of the exposure unit regions of the mask in each embodiment is incorporated in the exposure apparatus. The moving direction of the mask at the time of alignment depends on the order in which the patterns are transferred, and various methods can be considered. However, the present invention is not limited to any of those methods, and all exposure apparatuses provided with a positioning mechanism necessary for widely performing exposure using any one of the masks described above. including.

The mask, semiconductor device, and exposure apparatus of the present invention are inventions for solving the problem of stress generated by the high-speed movement of the mask as described above. Therefore, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to all types of exposure that may cause the same problem regardless of the type of irradiation line for exposure.

[0042]

As described above, according to the first mask of the present invention, the shape of the beam structure region in which the exposure unit region is arranged is a polygon having only obtuse angles. When an external force is applied, it is possible to prevent stress from concentrating on the right-angled or acute-angled inner corner portions of the beam structure region. As a result, cracking of the mask can be prevented and the life of the mask can be extended.

Further, according to the second mask of the present invention, since the external force is absorbed by the stress relaxation region provided around the region where the exposure unit region is arranged, the exposure unit region and thus the electron beam of the pattern shape are absorbed. It is possible to prevent the transparent region from being deformed.

According to the third mask of the present invention, by disposing the exposure unit areas in a zigzag manner, it is possible to prevent the mask from being deformed by stress against an external force in at least one direction.

Further, according to the fourth mask of the present invention,
Since the beams supporting the exposure unit regions are arranged so as not to be aligned in a straight line in the same direction, the stress is dispersed, and the deformation of the mask due to stress concentration can be prevented.

As described above, when a semiconductor device is manufactured by using each of the masks of the present invention, the pattern deformed by the deterioration or deformation of the mask is transferred and the yield in the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device is increased. Since there is no risk of deterioration of the semiconductor device, it is possible to provide a highly reliable semiconductor device including a highly accurate fine pattern.

If an exposure apparatus having an alignment mechanism adapted to the structure of the mask of the present invention is used like the exposure apparatus of the present invention to perform exposure using the mask of the present invention, a semiconductor device is obtained. In the manufacturing process of (1), it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a problem such as pattern deviation, and it is possible to efficiently provide a highly reliable and highly accurate semiconductor device.

When the exposure unit area has a thin film structure supported by beams, a highly accurate mask can be realized. Further, since the thin film structure is easily affected by external stress, the effect of the present invention is particularly great.

Further, the semiconductor device manufactured through the exposure process using the mask of the present invention has a good yield because the pattern accuracy does not deteriorate due to the deformation of the mask.
High quality can be provided.

Further, when exposure is performed using the mask of the present invention, accurate alignment can be realized by providing the mask aligning mechanism dedicated to the mask in the exposure apparatus, and the misalignment of the joint between the partial patterns can be realized. It is possible to carry out a highly accurate pattern transfer without any error.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a stencil mask (first mask of the present invention) according to a first embodiment.

2 is a diagram showing an outline of an EPL using the mask of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a stencil mask (second mask of the present invention) according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a stencil mask (a third mask of the present invention) according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a stencil mask (fourth mask of the present invention) according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of electron beam exposure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional stencil mask for EPL.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 shaping aperture, 2 stencil mask, 3
Wafer, 4 patterns, 5 partial batch openings, 6
Variable shaping opening, 7 electron beam, 8 stencil mask, 9 beam structure area, 10 exposure unit area, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 transparent area, 12 beams, 13 four corners, 14 stencil mask, 15 beam structure area, 16 exposure unit area, 17 transparent area, 18 beam, 19, 22, 2
5 enlarged area, 20 stencil mask, 21 stress relaxation area, 23 arrow, 24 stencil mask,
26 mark, 27, 29 silicon, 28 oxide film, 30 exposure range

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) G03F 9/00 H01L 21/30 541S

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A mask for pattern transfer, comprising a plurality of exposure unit regions and a beam formed at a boundary between exposure unit regions adjacent to each other, wherein a group of exposure unit regions arranged adjacent to each other. Is arranged on the mask so as to form a polygonal beam structure region having only obtuse angles. 2. A mask for pattern transfer, comprising a plurality of exposure unit regions and a beam formed at a boundary between adjacent exposure unit regions, wherein a group of exposure unit regions are arranged adjacent to each other. A mask having a stress relaxation region for relaxing stress applied to the mask from the outside of the mask around the region. 3. The beam, wherein the stress relaxation region is a beam formed at a boundary between a plurality of small regions and adjacent small regions, the beam being thinner than the beam formed at a boundary between the exposure unit regions. 3. The mask according to claim 2, which is a beam structure region provided with. 4. A mask for pattern transfer, comprising a plurality of exposure unit areas and a beam formed at a boundary between adjacent exposure unit areas, wherein the exposure unit areas are arranged in a predetermined direction. A mask characterized by being arranged in a staggered pattern. 5. A pattern transfer mask comprising a plurality of exposure unit regions and a beam formed at a boundary between adjacent exposure unit regions, wherein beams having the same direction are discontinuous. A mask characterized by being placed in. 6. The mask according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the exposure unit area is an n-sided polygon (n> 4) having only obtuse internal angles. 7. The mask according to claim 1, wherein the exposure unit area has a thin film structure. 8. The mask according to claim 1, wherein the exposure unit area has a transmission area having a predetermined shape for transmitting energy rays. 9. The mask according to claim 8 is irradiated with energy rays for each of the exposure unit areas, and the energy rays passing through the transmission areas are applied to a predetermined energy sensitive substrate,
A semiconductor device manufactured through a step of transferring the pattern of the predetermined shape onto the energy sensitive substrate. 10. The mask according to claim 8 is irradiated with energy rays in each of the exposure unit areas, and the energy rays that have passed through the transmission areas are applied to a predetermined energy sensitive substrate to form the pattern having the predetermined shape. An exposure apparatus for transferring onto an energy-sensitive substrate, comprising an alignment means for aligning the position of the mask with respect to the energy-sensitive substrate to a desired position.