JPH1073916A - Layout method of leticle and shot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the inspecting time of a reticle to the minimum, and avoid the rise of unit cost and extension of time limit of delivery of the leticle by arranging each shot on the leticle so that chips having the same pattern are aligned in line or column direction between a plurality of shots. SOLUTION: Each shot 22-24 formed of a reticle 21 is laid out so that common chips 26 constituting each shot 22-24, or the chips 26 having the same pattern, sub-chip size, and the number of arranged pieces are vertically aligned. Auxiliary pattern chips 27-32 necessary for manufacture which are formed of monitor patterns or alignment patterns are properly arranged around the common chips 26. Since the common chips 26 are arranged in the same line, the defect inspection by a conventional chip comparative inspection can be performed, and the inspecting time can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reticle and shot layout method, and more particularly to a reticle and shot layout method for simplifying a reticle inspection process used in a fine electronic component manufacturing process. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a reticle manufacturing technique in a wafer process has been used not only in a semiconductor device manufacturing process but also in a manufacturing process of a thin-film magnetic head, an LCD (liquid crystal display), and the like. Since it is as short as about one year from now, a large amount of reticles are consumed.

In the conventional photolithography process, emphasis is placed on how to reduce the number of reticles in order to reduce the cost. For this reason, an equal-size mask in which the transfer pattern and the transferred pattern are the same size is used. And 1: 1 reticles have been used.

However, with the recent pattern miniaturization, importance has been placed on the resolution of the pattern and the overlay accuracy of the pattern, and it has become difficult to cope with the conventional 1 × mask or 1 × reticle. In order to obtain accuracy, a 2.5 ×, 4 ×, or 5 × reduction projection exposure apparatus, that is, a so-called stepper is being used.

However, since the size of the reticle is fixed, there is a problem that many patterns cannot be formed on a reticle having an enlarged pattern as in the case of manufacturing a reticle of the same size.

To solve this problem, the number of reticles may be increased, but this leads to an increase in cost. Therefore, the pattern used in the same-size reticle is divided into a plurality of shots, that is, a transferred material (such as a wafer). Attempts have been made to reduce the cost by configuring a specific area within a transfer target (reticle or the like) of a transfer pattern to a single reticle.

FIG. 5 shows a plurality of shots 22 to 22 on one reticle 21.
24 shows a conceptual configuration of a conventional reticle for a thin film magnetic head containing 24, a chip 26 including a main pattern for forming a main part of a device, and a plurality of auxiliary pattern chips 27 to 29. The reticle 21 is formed with three shots 22 to 24 including a shot 22, a shot 23 including a chip 26 including a main pattern, a chip 26 including a main pattern, and a shot 24 including a plurality of auxiliary pattern chips 30 to 32. doing. Reference numeral 25 in the drawing indicates a reticle cover unique to a negative reticle.

The chip 26 or the auxiliary pattern chips 27 to 32 are composed of a plurality of sub chips. In general, the size of the sub chip is different for each of the chips 26 to 32. The number of arrays is also different.

[0009]

However, when a plurality of shots 22 to 24 are properly laid out, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, since chips having a common pattern existing in a plurality of shots 22 to 24, for example, in the case of FIG. 5, chips 26 are not arranged in the same row, they are conventionally performed in a reticle inspection process. In addition, there is a problem that a chip comparison test cannot be performed.

That is, conventionally, a pattern of two or more 1C chips is formed on one reticle, and each pattern of the actual reticle is converted into an electric signal as image data by an optical sensor. Each pattern was inspected for defects by comparing the patterns.

In order to perform such a chip comparison inspection using a conventional inspection apparatus, it is necessary to compare objects, that is, shots or chips constituting the shots, in the same row. As described above, when the chips 26 of the common pattern to be subjected to the chip comparison inspection are displaced, such a chip comparison inspection cannot be performed.

For this reason, when the arrangement is made as shown in FIG.
Inspection of the entire reticle or all of a plurality of shots is performed by a so-called data collation inspection method. However, there is a problem that it takes about six times as long as that performed by a chip comparison inspection method.

That is, in the data collation inspection, a pattern of reticle image data as an electric signal obtained from an actual reticle and a design CAD data or a design CAD data are used.
The inspection pattern of the inspection data created from the data is compared with the inspection pattern of the inspection data electrically, but the load such as data reading or conversion on the inspection device is large, and a considerable actual inspection time is required. become.

Further, in an inspection apparatus, a reticle pattern is compared with an inspection pattern created from inspection data, and a mismatched portion is detected as a defect. Pseudo defects that do not affect, for example, rounding at the corner of the pattern are detected as a large number of defects, and the detected defects need to be individually judged by the operator as defects or pseudo defects, which takes an enormous amount of time. In addition to the fact that labor is required, about 90% of the detected defects are pseudo defects.

As described above, irrespective of the cost reduction by suppressing the increase in the total number of reticles used by the user, an enormous amount of time is required for the reticle inspection process, and the reticle unit price increases. This causes a problem that the number of reticles that can be supplied in a certain period is reduced.

Accordingly, the present invention minimizes the increase in reticle inspection time when forming a plurality of shots on one reticle, and avoids an increase in the unit price of the reticle and an increase in delivery time. Aim.

[0017]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the principle configuration of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, means for solving the problems in the present invention will be described. See FIG. 1. (1) The present invention relates to a reticle 1 provided with a plurality of shots 2 to 4 composed of different chips 5 to 11,
The chip 5 having the same pattern among a plurality of shots 2 to 4 is characterized in that the whole or a part thereof is aligned in the row or column direction.

As described above, the chip 5 having the same pattern among a plurality of shots 2 to 4 is aligned in the row or column direction in whole or in part, so that chip comparison inspection becomes possible. The process can be greatly shortened, and the inspection process is simplified even when the reticle 1 is supplied to the user and the user performs inspection.

(2) According to the present invention, in the above (1), the chips 6 to 11 having no identical pattern among a plurality of shots 2 to 4 are arranged near the center line of the reticle 1. It is characterized by having.

In the case of a general inspection apparatus, since the area in which data collation inspection can be performed is set near the center of the reticle 1, there is no one having the same pattern among a plurality of shots 2 to 4. By arranging the chips 6 to 11 and the chips requiring high-precision inspection in the vicinity of the center line of the reticle 1, the chips 5 to 6 having the same pattern have a short time and no chips 6 to 11 having the same pattern. 11 can be inspected with high accuracy.

(3) According to the present invention, in the layout method of shots 2 to 4, when a plurality of shots 2 to 4 composed of different chips 5 to 11 are provided on the reticle 1, a plurality of shots 2 The presence or absence of a chip 5 having the same pattern among the shots 2 to 4 is checked.
When there is a chip 5 having the same pattern between
It is characterized in that the chip 5 having the same pattern is laid out so that all or a part thereof is aligned in the row or column direction.

As described above, by inspecting the presence or absence of the chip 5 having the same pattern among a plurality of shots 2 to 4 before arranging the shots 2 to 4, the shot 2 can be simplified. ~ 4 layouts are possible.

(4) According to the present invention, in the above (3), the chips 6 to 11 having no identical pattern among the plurality of shots 2 to 4 are laid out near the center line of the reticle 1. It is characterized by the following.

Chips requiring high-precision inspection and having no identical pattern in the other shots 2 to 4 are laid out near the center line of the reticle 1 to simplify the inspection process. 4 layouts are possible.

(5) The present invention is characterized in that in (3) or (4), the chip arrangement information is given to the design data of each of the shots 2 to 4 as shot-specific information.

As described above, the chip arrangement information, that is, the size, the number of arrangements, the patterns, and the like of the sub-chips constituting the chip are previously provided as shot-specific information in the design data of each shot 2 to 4, The inspection process for the presence or absence of the chip 5 having the same pattern among the plurality of shots 2 to 4 is simplified.

(6) According to the present invention, in the above (5), whether or not there is a chip 5 constituting each of the shots 2 to 4 having the same pattern is determined by using the shot specific information. The shots 2 to 4 are automatically laid out based on the result.

[0028]

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of the embodiment of the present invention,
First, a reticle designer investigates shot information based on a design drawing, that is, examines shot-specific information such as the size of sub-chips constituting a chip in each shot unit, the number of arrangements thereof, and the type of pattern. .

Next, a process of adding / editing shot-specific information is performed. That is, the addition of the shot-specific information is to add the above-described shot-specific information as a tag to the design data of the shot unit, and the editing of the shot-specific information is to add a bar code or a dedicated A code is generated, and only the addition of shot-specific information may be performed, only the editing of shot-specific information may be performed, or both may be performed.

Next, reticle production data is created. In this step, shots to be combined for producing the reticle are selected.

Next, matching using the same pattern, that is, checking whether or not each shot to be combined has the same pattern is performed.
After the step is completed, a reticle is manufactured from the shots selected in the above steps, and if there is an identical pattern, the process proceeds to the next step.

Next, the sub-chip size is compared, that is, whether or not the sizes of the sub-chips used in the same pattern are the same is checked. If the sizes of the sub-chips are not the same, the shot selected in the above step is used. When a reticle is manufactured and the sub chip size is the same, the process proceeds to the next step.

Next, collation of the number of arrayed sub-chips,
That is, collation is performed to determine whether or not the number of sub-chips of the same size is the same, and if the number of sub-chips is different, a reticle is manufactured by the shot selected in the above process,
If the number of arrays is the same, proceed to the next step.

Next, a shot layout is prepared, that is, the shots are laid out such that chips having the same pattern, sub-chip size, and the same number of arrays are arranged in the same row or column in the reticle, thereby producing a reticle. .

In this case, the presence / absence of the same pattern, the presence / absence of the same sub chip size,
Inspection of the difference in the number of arrangements and the layout of each shot can be performed automatically, but the above-described steps 1 to 3 may be performed manually.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a reticle according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which is manufactured according to the flow shown in FIG. 2. Each shot 22 to 24 formed on the reticle 21 is shown.
Is a common chip 2 constituting each of the shots 22 to 24
6, that is, a layout in which chips 26 having the same pattern, sub-chip size, and array number are aligned in the vertical direction. The chips 27 to 32 are appropriately arranged around the common chip 26.

In this case, since the common chips 26 are arranged in the same row, it is possible to perform a defect inspection by the conventional chip comparison inspection, so that the inspection time can be greatly reduced, and the time required for the production can be reduced. Auxiliary pattern chip 27
Since No. 32 does not require high-precision inspection, the inspection result can be sufficiently ensured by visual observation using an optical microscope of about 100 or 200 times, and the inspection time can be shortened from this point as well.

Accordingly, the time and labor required for the reticle manufacturing process can be greatly reduced, so that when manufacturing an enlarged reticle, an increase in the reticle unit price can be suppressed, and the delivery date to the user can be extended. Can be suppressed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a reticle according to the second embodiment of the present invention manufactured according to the flow shown in FIG. 2, and shows shots 42 to 44 formed on reticle 41.
Is a common chip 4 constituting each of the shots 42 to 44
6, 47, ie, pattern, subchip size, and
The chips 46 and 47 having the same arrangement number are laid out so as to be aligned in the vertical direction, respectively, and any one of the pattern, the sub chip size, and the arrangement number is not common, and high precision The layout is such that the auxiliary pattern chips 48 to 50 that require inspection are located near the center line of the reticle 41.

In this case, the common chips 46 and 47 may be subjected to a chip comparison inspection in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the auxiliary pattern chips 48 to 50 which require high-precision inspection. In this case, a data collation inspection capable of performing a highly accurate inspection may be performed.

This is because, in a normal inspection apparatus, since the setting of the area for performing the data collation inspection is performed from the center of the reticle, the auxiliary pattern chips 48 to 50 which require high-precision inspection are used. By laying out so as to be near the center line of the reticle 41, data collation inspection of each of the auxiliary pattern chips 48 to 50 can be performed by partial data collation inspection without performing data collation inspection of the entire reticle. In addition, the inspection time can be reduced.

Such a reticle manufacturing method can be used not only for a thin film magnetic head but also for a reticle manufacturing process for a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device using many common patterns.

In the above description of the embodiment, chips having the same pattern, sub chip size, and array number are laid out so as to be arranged in the same row or column. When the sub-chip size is large, the pattern and size of the sub-chips constituting each shot are compared for differences, and if they are the same, the layout may be such that the same sub-chips are arranged in the same row or column. It is.

[0044]

According to the present invention, when a plurality of shots are formed on one reticle, the shot specific information is investigated for each shot provided on the reticle, and the pattern, sub chip size, In addition, since each chip is laid out so as to shorten the defect inspection time based on the result of inspecting the presence / absence of chips having the same arrangement number, it is possible to suppress an increase in reticle unit price, In addition, it is possible to suppress the extension of the delivery date to the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a flow according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a reticle according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a reticle according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a conventional reticle.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 reticle 2 shot 3 shot 4 shot 5 chip 6 auxiliary pattern chip 7 auxiliary pattern chip 8 auxiliary pattern chip 9 auxiliary pattern chip 10 auxiliary pattern chip 11 auxiliary pattern chip 21 reticle 22 shot 23 shot 24 shot 25 reticle Cover 26 chip 27 auxiliary pattern chip 28 auxiliary pattern chip 29 auxiliary pattern chip 30 auxiliary pattern chip 31 auxiliary pattern chip 32 auxiliary pattern chip 41 reticle 42 shot 43 shot 44 shot 45 reticle cover 46 chip 47 chip 48 auxiliary Chip for pattern 49 Chip for auxiliary pattern 50 Chip for auxiliary pattern

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A reticle provided with a plurality of shots composed of different chips, wherein the whole or a part of the chips having the same pattern among the plurality of shots is aligned in the row or column direction. Reticle to feature. 2. The reticle according to claim 1, wherein chips having no identical pattern among the plurality of shots are arranged near a center line of the reticle. 3. When a plurality of shots composed of different chips are provided on a reticle, the presence / absence of a chip having the same pattern among the plurality of shots is checked, and the same shot is detected between the plurality of shots. If there is a chip having a pattern, the shot is laid out such that the whole or a part of the chip having the same pattern is aligned in the row or column direction. 4. The shot layout method according to claim 3, wherein a chip having no identical pattern among the plurality of shots is laid out near a center line of the reticle. 5. The shot layout method according to claim 3, wherein chip design information is provided as shot-specific information in the design data of each shot. 6. Using the shot-specific information, inspect whether or not there is a chip constituting each of the shots having the same pattern, and automatically lay out each of the shots based on the inspection result. 6. The shot layout method according to claim 5, wherein: