JP5035537B2 - Gradation mask defect correction method and gradation mask - Google Patents

Description

In the present invention, a light-shielding film that shields exposure light at the time of transfer and a half-tone film that is semi-transmissive to the exposure light are arranged and patterned on one surface of a transparent substrate, and the light-shielding film is provided. In the provided gray scale mask, the white defect portion in the provided gradation mask includes a light shielding region, a halftone region in which there is no light shielding region and a halftone film is disposed, and a transparent region in which neither the light shielding film nor the halftone film is present. The present invention relates to a correction method and a gradation mask subjected to the correction method .

In recent years, the spread of flat panel display devices has been remarkable, and liquid crystal display devices are also required to be thin, large and have high quality.
Under such circumstances, an increase in size is also required for a mask (hereinafter referred to as a liquid crystal photomask) used for manufacturing a display panel (hereinafter referred to as a liquid crystal display panel) of a liquid crystal display device.
Conventionally, as these masks, a pattern portion is formed by a plurality of graphic patterns composed of a light-shielding film for substantially shielding exposure light at the time of transfer on one surface of a transparent substrate for forming a TFT circuit or a color filter. A binary mask that forms the whole is used, but recently, a light-shielding film that shields exposure light during transfer on one surface of a transparent substrate, and a halftone film that is semi-transparent to the exposure light. , Each of which is arranged by patterning, a light-shielding region where a light-shielding film is disposed, a halftone region where there is no light-shielding film and a halftone film is disposed, and a transparent region where neither the light-shielding film nor the halftone film exists Is also performed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-188069 (Patent Document 1) using a provided gradation mask to shorten the process of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel.
JP 2007-188069 A

For making a binary mask, a photosensitive resist is usually applied on the entire surface of a transparent substrate (also called blanks) that is provided with a light-shielding film that substantially blocks exposure light during transfer. Then, exposure exposure is selectively performed by a laser drawing apparatus, and thereafter, the resist is developed to form a resist pattern on the light shielding film, and the light shielding film is selectively formed using the resist pattern as an etching resistant layer. Etching and inspection and correction are performed through process processing such as resist removal and cleaning processing. In the case of a large size, drawing may take 3 days, and process processing, inspection, and correction may take about 4 days.
In the case of manufacturing a gradation mask, for example, a halftone film having a desired transmittance on the surface on which the graphic pattern is further formed with respect to the mask having the binary mask structure thus manufactured. In the same manner, a photosensitive resist is applied, exposed and drawn, developed, processed, etched, resist removed, washed, and so on, and then inspected and corrected.

In such a gradation mask, in particular, when a line-shaped halftone film is disconnected (defect), a slit pattern in which a line pattern made of a light-shielding film is arranged in a slit shape is provided at the disconnected part. The transmittance of the portion is adjusted by adjusting the transmittance so as to match the transmittance when there is no disconnection.
That is, for example, when the transmittance with respect to the exposure light at the time of transferring the halftone film is 50%, the transmittance in the region of the broken portion of the slit pattern made of the light shielding film is set to 50%.
However, in a large-sized liquid crystal photomask, transfer exposure is performed at the same magnification, but the transmittance is adjusted according to the transmittance of the halftone film 20 as shown in FIG. Even if the image is corrected, when the image is transferred, as shown in FIG. 5B, the portion corresponding to the correction portion 27 may be thinned, which causes a problem in terms of transferability.

As described above, there is a demand for an increase in size and quality of a liquid crystal display device. As a large-sized photomask for liquid crystal to meet this demand, it is possible to shorten the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display panel. Although a tone mask has been used, when correcting a defect portion in a line-shaped halftone film pattern that forms a line-shaped halftone region, the defect correcting method is efficient and has good transferability Was demanded.
The present invention corresponds to this, and is a gradation mask defect correction method for correcting a defect portion in a line-shaped halftone film pattern that forms a line-shaped halftone region in a gradation mask. In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a defect correcting method with good transferability.

According to the gradation mask defect correcting method of the present invention, a light-shielding film that shields exposure light during transfer on one surface of a transparent substrate and a halftone film that is semi-transmissive to the exposure light are patterned and arranged. A liquid crystal provided with a light shielding region provided with a light shielding film, a halftone region provided with no halftone film without a light shielding film, and a transparent region in which neither the light shielding film nor the halftone film exists. A gradation mask defect correcting method for correcting a defect in a line-shaped halftone film pattern for forming a line-shaped halftone region in a gradation mask for manufacturing a display panel, comprising: (a) the line A defect in the halftone film pattern is defined as a first defect, the first defect is shaped, includes the first defect, and the line of the line-shaped halftone film pattern Width of the line A shaping step for newly forming a second defect portion which is a rectangular white defect portion along; and (b) a light shielding film for shielding the exposure light with respect to the second defect portion, and A plurality of line patterns having a line width not to be transferred are arranged in parallel along the line direction within the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern, and the lines in the second defect portion are arranged in parallel. When the outside of the halftone film pattern is a transparent region, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to contact the transparent region, and the line-like halftone in the second defect portion When the outer side of the film pattern is a light shielding region, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be spaced from the boundary with the light shielding region, and is a slit-like pattern composed of a plurality of line patterns. A slit-shaped pattern arrangement processing step, and in the slit-shaped pattern arrangement processing step, the exposure of the shaped rectangular portion region where the slit-shaped pattern is arranged. The light transmittance is set in accordance with the transmittance of the halftone film with respect to the exposure light.
In the above-described gradation mask defect correcting method, the slit pattern placement processing step scans and irradiates laser light by laser CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), and places the line pattern in the irradiated area. It is characterized by being.
In addition, in any of the above-described gradation mask defect correction methods, the light-shielding film serving as the line pattern is mainly composed of chromium.
Further, in any of the above-described gradation mask defect correcting methods, the shaping step is to remove the halftone film with a laser beam or a focused ion beam.
Also, in any one of the above-described gradation mask defect correction methods, the gradation mask is a photomask for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel.
The gradation mask of the present invention is arranged by patterning a light-shielding film that shields exposure light at the time of transfer on one surface of a transparent substrate and a halftone film that is semi-transmissive to the exposure light, respectively. A liquid crystal display panel provided with a light shielding region provided with a light shielding film, a halftone region provided with no halftone film without a light shielding film, and a transparent region in which neither the light shielding film nor the halftone film exists A gradation mask for manufacturing, and a defect mask in a line-shaped halftone film pattern that forms a line-shaped halftone region is corrected. In the region where the halftone film is removed in a rectangular shape along the line with the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern, the light-shielding film that shields the exposure light and having a line width that is not transferred, Line putter Are arranged in parallel so as to extend along the line direction within the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern, and the line-shaped halftone in the region from which the halftone film is removed When the outer side of the film pattern is a transparent region, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be in contact with the transparent region, and the line-shaped halftone film pattern in the region where the halftone film is removed If the outside is a light shielding area, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be spaced from the boundary with the light shielding area, and a slit-like pattern composed of a plurality of the line patterns is provided. The transmittance for the exposure light of the shaped rectangular part region in which the slit-like pattern is arranged is determined by the exposure light of the halftone film. And it is characterized in that it is set according to the transmittance against.
Here, “shielding the exposure light” means a state in which the exposure light is substantially shielded in terms of the action on the transfer process, and a light shielding rate of 100 in terms of the action on the transfer process. % (Transmittance 0%).
Further, “semi-transmissivity with respect to exposure light at the time of transfer” means that it is substantially transmissive with respect to the exposure light at the time of transfer and is light-shielding. It means having. That is, a film having a light-transmitting property that is not 100% light-shielding (transmittance 0%) and that has a light-transmitting effect on the transfer process is also included.

(Function)
The gradation mask defect correcting method of the present invention is configured as described above, thereby correcting a defect portion in a line-shaped halftone film pattern forming a line-shaped halftone region in the gradation mask. The defect correction method for the gradation mask makes it possible to provide an efficient and transferable defect correction method.
Specifically, (a) using the defect in the line-shaped halftone film pattern as a first defect, shaping the first defect, including the first defect, and A shaping step for newly forming a second defect portion which is a rectangular white defect portion along the line with the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern; and (b) the second defect portion. In contrast, a plurality of line patterns having a line width that does not transfer the exposure light and that does not transfer are spaced along the line direction within the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern. If the outer side of the line-shaped halftone film pattern in the second defect portion is a transparent region, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be in contact with the transparent region. And the second When the outside of the line-shaped halftone film pattern in the recessed portion is a light shielding region, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be spaced from the boundary with the light shielding region, and a plurality of line patterns A slit-shaped pattern arrangement processing step for arranging a slit-shaped pattern, and in the slit-shaped pattern arrangement processing step, the shaped rectangular portion region in which the slit-shaped pattern is arranged. This is achieved by setting the transmittance of the halftone film to the transmittance of the exposure light of the halftone film.
Usually, in the slit-shaped pattern arrangement processing step, the transmittance of the shaped rectangular portion region where the slit-shaped pattern is disposed is made equal to the transmittance of the halftone film with respect to the exposure light. The pattern is designed to be
Specifically, by performing the shaping process step, the rectangular size can be set to one or more desired sizes, and the same size of the rectangular size can be obtained for the defective portions having different sizes (the first defective portions). The slit-shaped pattern arrangement processing step can be performed for each rectangular size under the same conditions.
Further, by performing such a slit-shaped pattern arrangement step, the second defect is corrected, and the transmittance for the exposure light in that region is matched with the transmittance of the halftone film. After transfer, the exposed and developed photosensitive material has a film thickness equivalent to that of the normal part (uncorrected part), and the line width and transfer shape can be improved.
By forming the boundary of the halftone pattern, which should have existed when no defect occurred, with respect to the line width and the transfer shape, the light intensity profile becomes the halftone pattern by forming a correction pattern (correction film or gap). Is equivalent to
In particular, the slit pattern arrangement processing step is performed by scanning and irradiating a laser beam by laser CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), and arranging the line pattern in the irradiation area. By doing so, it can be made efficient and reproducible.
The scanning of the laser beam is usually performed by an optical system that uses the laser beam by rotating a polygon mirror. When the rectangular size is determined, the slit-shaped pattern is automatically controlled according to the rectangular area. It is also possible to arrange.
Moreover, the light shielding film used as a line pattern can be generated by laser CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), which is mainly composed of chromium.
Further, as the shaping process step, a form in which the halftone film is removed by a laser beam or a focused ion beam can be mentioned.
As such a photomask, specifically, a photomask for producing a liquid crystal display panel, which is required to have a large size and high quality, is preferable.

As described above, the present invention is a method for correcting a defect in a gradation mask that corrects a defective portion in a line-shaped halftone film pattern in a gradation mask, and is an efficient and excellent defect correction with a gradation mask. The method can be provided, and at the same time, the gradation mask subjected to such a correction method can be provided .

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are schematic plan views showing the steps of the first example of the embodiment of the defect correction method for a gradation mask according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 2A to FIG. 2C are plan views showing a transfer pattern at a location corresponding to the correction location, and FIGS. 2A to 2C show the steps of the second example of the embodiment of the defect correction method for a gradation mask according to the present invention. FIG. 2 (d) is a plan view showing a transfer pattern at a location corresponding to the correction location, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the characteristic portion of the gradation mask and the transfer exposure state. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a CVD method by laser irradiation for forming a line pattern.
The A1-A2 cross section in FIG. 1 and the B1-B2 cross section in FIG. 2 correspond to the C1 and C2 parts in FIG. 3, respectively.
1-4, 10 is a transparent substrate, 10A is a transparent region, 20 is a halftone film (also referred to as a semitransparent film), 20A and 20B are halftone regions (also referred to as a halftone film pattern), and 25 and 25a are Defective part (also referred to as first defective part), 26 and 26a are second defective part (also referred to as shaping part), 27 is a correction part, 27a is a line pattern, 27b is a gap part, 30 is a light shielding film, 30A is Light shielding region, 40 gradation mask, 50 exposure light, 60 base substrate, 70 photosensitive material, 80 transfer substrate, 90 XY stage, 91 chamber for confining film forming gas, Reference numeral 92 denotes a laser beam.

First, a first example of an embodiment of a defect correction method for a gradation mask according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the first example of the gradation mask defect correction method, a light-shielding film (corresponding to 30 in FIG. 3) that shields exposure light (corresponding to 50 in FIG. 3) during transfer onto one surface of the transparent substrate 10 and the exposure are described above. A light-transmitting halftone film (corresponding to 20 in FIG. 3) that is semi-transmissive to light is arranged by patterning, and a light-shielding region (corresponding to 30A in FIG. 3) provided with the light-shielding film, In other words, a halftone region in which a halftone film is disposed (also referred to as a halftone film pattern, which corresponds to 20A in FIG. 3), and a transparent region in which neither the light-shielding film nor the halftone film exists (in 10A in FIG. 3) 3 is provided with a defect portion 25 made of a white defect in a line-shaped halftone film pattern forming a line-shaped halftone region in the gradation mask shown in FIG. 3 (corresponding to 40 in FIG. 3). To correct the defect in the tone mask, Kodewa, both sides of the line of the linear halftone pattern 20A is for the case a transparent region 10A, a correction method.

Hereinafter, a first example will be described with reference to FIG.
First, a gradation mask is prepared, and a defect portion 25 made of a white defect in the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20A is extracted by inspection. (Fig. 1 (a))
For the production of a gradation mask, for example, a binary mask having a halftone film not yet arranged by a known binary mask production method is produced. A halftone film having a desired transmittance is formed on the surface on which the light-shielding film pattern made of the film is formed, and similarly, a photosensitive resist is applied, exposure drawing, development processing, etching, resist removal, and washing are performed. A predetermined inspection is performed through process processing such as processing.
In addition, as described above, the binary mask is usually produced by a base material (including blanks) in which a light-shielding film such as chromium having a transmittance of 0% with respect to the exposure light at the time of transfer is arranged on the entire surface of the transparent substrate. A photosensitive resist is applied over the entire surface of the light-shielding film, and is selectively exposed and drawn by a laser drawing apparatus. Thereafter, the resist is developed to form a resist pattern on the light-shielding film, Using the resist pattern as an anti-etching layer, the light-shielding film is selectively etched, and a desired binary mask is obtained through processes such as resist removal and cleaning.
Inspect and correct as necessary.
As the transparent substrate 10, optically polished soda lime glass, borosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, synthetic quartz, fluorite, or calcium fluoride can be used, and quartz glass is preferable when the exposure light has a short wavelength. .
Examples of the light-shielding film 30 include a chromium-based film, molybdenum silicide, tantalum, aluminum, silicon, silicon oxide, and silicon oxynitride. preferable.
As the chromium-based film, a single layer film made of a material selected from chromium, chromium oxide, chromium nitride, and chromium oxynitride is usually used. Among these chromium-based films, film formation is easy and versatile. A chromium film or a chromium nitride film that can easily reduce film stress is more preferable.
For example, when chromium is used as the light shielding film, the film thickness is in the range of about 50 nm to 150 nm.
As the halftone film 20, chromium is usually used in view of film formability and the like.
In addition, as a gradation mask here, the photomask for large-sized liquid crystal display panel preparation applied by equal magnification exposure for patterning of a color filter or patterning of the circuit part of TFT is mentioned, These are not limited.

Next, the defective portion in the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20 </ b> A that forms the line-shaped halftone region is corrected with respect to the gradation mask thus manufactured as follows.
Here, the case where the defect part 25 which consists of a white defect which exists in the linear halftone film pattern 20A is corrected is demonstrated.
First, the defect 25 in the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20A is used as a first defect, and the first defect is shaped to include the first defect 25, and the line-shaped film A second defect portion (also referred to as a shaping portion) 26 which is a rectangular white defect portion along the line with the width of the line of the halftone film pattern 20A is newly formed. (Fig. 1 (b))
Here, the second white defect portion 26 has a predetermined size determined in advance according to the size of the halftone film pattern 20A in the line direction.
Next, the second defect portion 26 is made of a light shielding film that shields exposure light at the time of transfer, and a plurality of line patterns having a line width that is not transferred, and the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern. The inner side of the line pattern is spaced in parallel along the line direction, and the outermost line pattern is arranged at both ends in the width direction of the line, and the outer side part is outside the line of the halftone film pattern. Are arranged so as to be located at the boundary with the transmission region, and a slit-like pattern 27 composed of a plurality of line patterns is provided. (Fig. 1 (c))
In other words, the outermost (both outer) line patterns are arranged in contact with the transparent region. Here, the transmittance with respect to the exposure light of the shaped rectangular portion region where the slit pattern 27 is arranged is set in accordance with the transmittance with respect to the exposure light of the halftone film 20.
As shown in FIG. 4, the slit pattern 27 is arranged by irradiating a laser beam 92 with a technique called laser CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) as shown in FIG. Dispose with thickness.
As shown in FIG. 4, in a state in which a gas (for example, Cr (CO) ₆ ) as a raw material is confined in a chamber 91 for confining a film forming gas in the vicinity of the region where the line pattern 27a is formed, For example, the region where the mask line pattern 27a is formed is irradiated with third harmonic light (355 nm) of a YAG laser, and chromium is deposited in the irradiated region.
Although not clearly shown in FIG. 4, the laser beam 92 is scanned while being controlled.
In the case of transferring a large-sized photomask for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, the transfer is performed by the same magnification exposure. In such an equal magnification exposure, the line width of the line pattern that is not resolved by the transfer is About 0.5 μm to 1.5 μm.
As described above, the correction is performed when both outer sides of the line of the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20A are transparent regions.
In the first example, the defect portion is a white defect, but the correction method of the first example can also be applied to a case where foreign matter is fixed in the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20A.

When the portion thus corrected is transferred to the positive photosensitive material 70 at the same magnification by the proximity exposure method as shown in FIG. 3, the transferred image is shown in FIG. As shown in b), no narrowing 75 or thickening of the line width occurs, and good transferability is obtained.
For simplicity, in the proximity exposure method, as shown in FIG. 3, the surface of the gradation mask 40 on the side of the film surface on which the light shielding layer 30 and the halftone film 20 are disposed and the photosensitivity of the substrate 80 to be transferred. The light was controlled optically to parallel light from the back side, not the film side of the tone mask 40, with a gap of about 100 μm facing the surface on which the material 70 was disposed. Irradiating the exposure light 50, the photosensitive material 70 of the substrate 80 to be transferred is exposed corresponding to the film surface state of the gradation mask 40.

Next, a second example of the embodiment of the gradation mask defect correcting method of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As in the first example, the defect correction method for the gradation mask of the second example is a light shielding film (30 in FIG. 3) that shields exposure light (corresponding to 50 in FIG. 3) at the time of transfer onto one surface of the transparent substrate 10. 3) and a halftone film (corresponding to 20 in FIG. 3) that is semi-transmissive to the exposure light, respectively, are arranged by patterning, and a light shielding region (30A in FIG. 3) provided with the light shielding film. 2), a halftone region in which there is no light-shielding film and a halftone film is disposed (also referred to as a halftone film pattern, which corresponds to 20A in FIG. 3), and neither the light-shielding film nor the halftone film exists. 3 in the gradation mask (corresponding to 40 in FIG. 3) shown in FIG. 3 provided with a region (corresponding to 10A in FIG. 3), the white in the line-shaped halftone film pattern forming the line-shaped halftone region A gradation mask for correcting a defect portion 25a made of a defect Is a defect correction method, in the second embodiment, unlike the first example, for the case both the outer of the line-shaped halftone pattern 20B lines are shielding regions 30A, a correction method.

Hereinafter, a second example will be described with reference to FIG.
Similar to the first example, with respect to the manufactured gradation mask, the defect portion 25a in the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20B is used as the first defect portion, and the first defect portion is shaped, A second defect portion (also referred to as a shaping portion) 26a that is a rectangular white defect portion that includes the first defect portion 25a and has a line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20B and extends along the line. Newly formed. (Fig. 2 (b))
Also here, the second white defect portion 26a is set to a predetermined size determined in advance in accordance with the size of the halftone film pattern 20B in the line direction.
Next, with respect to the second defect portion 26a, the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern includes a plurality of line patterns that are made of a light shielding film that shields exposure light at the time of transfer and that does not transfer. The inner side of the line pattern is spaced in parallel along the line direction, and the outermost line pattern is arranged at both ends in the width direction of the line, and the outer side part is outside the line of the halftone film pattern. A slit-like pattern made up of a plurality of line patterns is disposed so as to be spaced from the boundary with the light shielding region. (Fig. 2 (c))
That is, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be spaced from the boundary with the light shielding region.
Also here, the transmittance for the exposure light of the shaped rectangular portion region where the slit-like pattern is arranged is set in accordance with the transmittance for the exposure light of the halftone film 20.
In this way, the correction is performed when both outer sides of the line of the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20B are light shielding regions.
Each process and member are the same as those in the first example, and will not be described here.
Also, in the second example, the defect portion is a white defect, but the correction method of the second example can also be applied to a case where foreign matter is fixed in the line-shaped halftone film pattern 20B.

Here, as the gradation mask, as shown in FIG. 3, the light shielding region 30A has a structure in which the halftone film 20 is laminated on the light shielding film 30, but the defect of the gradation mask of the present invention is described. The gradation mask to which the correction method can be applied is not limited to this.
For example, the present invention can also be applied to the case where the light shielding region 30A is formed of a structure in which the light shielding film 30 is stacked on the halftone film 20 or only the light shielding film.
The rectangular size is usually ranked according to the size of the white defect (the first defective portion), and the rectangular size corresponding to each rank is determined.
In this case, with respect to the size of the white defect having the same rank (the first defect portion), a rectangular second white defect portion having the same size is formed, and the defect portion having the different size (the first defect portion). Part) can be processed under the same correction conditions, and the workability can be improved.

FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are schematic plan views showing the steps of the first example of the embodiment of the defect correction method for a gradation mask according to the present invention, and FIG. It is the top view which showed the transfer pattern of the location corresponding to a correction location. 2 (a) to 2 (c) are schematic plan views showing the correction portion showing the steps of the second example of the embodiment of the defect correction method for a gradation mask according to the present invention. FIG. It is the top view which showed the transfer pattern of the location corresponding to a correction location. It is sectional drawing which showed the cross section of the characteristic part of a gradation mask, and the exposure state of transcription | transfer. It is the schematic sectional drawing which showed the CVD method by the laser irradiation for forming a line pattern. FIG. 5A is a plan view showing a conventional defect correction state, and FIG. 5B is a plan view showing a transfer image of the defect correction portion in the defect correction state shown in FIG. 5A.

Explanation of symbols

10 transparent substrate 10A transparent region 20 halftone film (also called semitransparent film)
20A, 20B halftone area (also called halftone film pattern)
25, 25a Defect portion (also referred to as first defect portion)
26, 26a Second defect part (also called shaping part)
27 Correction part 27a, 27A Line pattern 27b, 27B Gap part 30 Light shielding film 30A Light shielding area 40 Gradation mask 50 Exposure light 60 Base substrate 70 Photosensitive material 75 Constricted part 80 Transferred substrate 90 XY stage 91 Film formation Chamber for confining industrial gas 92 Laser light

Claims (5)

A light-shielding film that shields exposure light at the time of transfer on one surface of the transparent substrate, and a halftone film that is semi-transmissive to the exposure light, and is arranged by patterning; In a gradation mask for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel provided with a halftone region in which a halftone film is provided without a light shielding film and a transparent region in which neither the light shielding film nor the halftone film exists A method for correcting a defect in a gradation mask for correcting a defect portion in a line-shaped halftone film pattern that forms a halftone region, wherein (a) a defect portion in the line-shaped halftone film pattern is a first As the first defect portion, the first defect portion is shaped, and includes the first defect portion, and a rectangular white defect along the line with the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern Second missing part A shaping process step for forming a new part, and (b) a plurality of line patterns, each of which has a light shielding film that shields the exposure light with respect to the second defect part, and has a line width that is not transferred. Within the line width of the line-shaped halftone film pattern, a gap is formed in parallel along the line direction, and the outside of the line-shaped halftone film pattern in the second defect portion is a transparent region. In this case, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be in contact with the transparent region, and when the outside of the line-shaped halftone film pattern in the second defect portion is a light shielding region, A slit pattern in which the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be spaced from the boundary with the light-shielding area, and a slit pattern consisting of a plurality of line patterns is arranged. In the slit pattern arrangement processing step, the transmittance for the exposure light of the shaped rectangular portion region in which the slit pattern is arranged is determined by the halftone film. A method for correcting a defect of a gradation mask, wherein the gradation mask defect correction method is set in accordance with a transmittance with respect to the exposure light.   2. The method for correcting a defect of a gradation mask according to claim 1, wherein the slit pattern arrangement processing step irradiates a laser beam by scanning with a laser CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) and irradiates the line with the line. A method for correcting a defect of a gradation mask, characterized by disposing a pattern.   3. The gradation mask defect correcting method according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding film serving as the line pattern is mainly composed of chromium. Defect correction method.   4. The gradation mask defect correcting method according to claim 1, wherein the shaping step removes the halftone film by a laser beam or a focused ion beam. A method of correcting a defect of a gradation mask as a feature. A light-shielding film that shields exposure light at the time of transfer on one surface of the transparent substrate and a halftone film that is semi-transmissive to the exposure light, respectively, and is provided with a light-shielding region in which the light-shielding film is disposed; A gradation mask for producing a liquid crystal display panel provided with a halftone region in which no halftone film is provided without a light shielding film, and a transparent region in which neither the light shielding film nor the halftone film exists, and A gradation mask in which a defective portion in a line-shaped halftone film pattern forming a line-shaped halftone region is corrected, wherein the corrected portion of the defective portion is a line of the line-shaped halftone film pattern In the region in which the halftone film is removed in a rectangular shape along the line with a width of the line, a plurality of line patterns having a line width that does not transfer and is formed of a light-shielding film that blocks the exposure light. C Within the line width of the tone film pattern, a gap is formed in parallel along the line direction, and the outer side of the line-shaped half tone film pattern in the region where the half tone film is removed is a transparent region. In this case, the outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be in contact with the transparent region, and the outside of the line-shaped halftone film pattern in the region where the halftone film is removed is a light shielding region. The outermost line pattern is arranged so as to be spaced from the boundary with the light shielding region, and a slit-like pattern composed of a plurality of the line patterns is arranged, and the slit-like pattern is arranged. The transmittance of the shaped rectangular region for the exposure light is set in accordance with the transmittance of the halftone film for the exposure light. And tone mask, characterized in that are.

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