US3688655A - Method of, and apparatus for, writing mask patterns on photographic material by means of light - Google Patents

Method of, and apparatus for, writing mask patterns on photographic material by means of light Download PDF

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Publication number
US3688655A
US3688655A US81276A US3688655DA US3688655A US 3688655 A US3688655 A US 3688655A US 81276 A US81276 A US 81276A US 3688655D A US3688655D A US 3688655DA US 3688655 A US3688655 A US 3688655A
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United States
Prior art keywords
light
photographic material
boundaries
writing
boundary
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Expired - Lifetime
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US81276A
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English (en)
Inventor
Frits Theodoor Klostermann
Andreas Petrus Theodo Jentjens
Adrianus Gerardus Bouwer
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US Philips Corp
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US Philips Corp
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
    • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
    • G03F7/70—Microphotolithographic exposure; Apparatus therefor
    • G03F7/70383—Direct write, i.e. pattern is written directly without the use of a mask by one or multiple beams
    • G03F7/704—Scanned exposure beam, e.g. raster-, rotary- and vector scanning

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method of writing mask patterns on a photographic material by meansof light, in which method there a spot of light is formed from the light of a source of light by means of an opening which in principle is rectangular, said light spot being moved over the photographic material along paths which correspond to the mask patterns to be written.
  • the invention also relates to an apparatus for writing mask patterns on a photographic material by means of light.
  • the term light is used herein to mean an electromagnetic oscillation having a wavelength between 0.2 pm and 2 um.
  • the desired pattern is first cut by a numerically controlled drawing machine in the upper layer of a twolayer plastic foil of, say, 120 X 120 cm? After the upper layer has been locally peeled off, i.e. after the opaque material within the contours cut has been removed, the
  • the resulting mask pattern is reduced, say, 30 times with a fixed camera arrangement. Then the resulting mask pattern is further reduced, for example 10 times, in a step-and-repeat camera, a large number of images being successively formed in different areas of a photographic plate, so that a large number of equal mask patterns .of the desired size are produced on this plate.
  • the non-automatized peeling stage may be dispensed with, so that:
  • the size of the initial large written pattern may be greatly reduced with an equal or even improved final accuracy, so that a. no intermediate reduction is required
  • the time required for writing the first large pattern can be reduced by a factor of, say, 10.
  • the pattern elements of the mask pattern to be written must have a prescribed width throughout their length.
  • the location of the transition from black to transparent along a path depends upon the location of the transition between light energy and no light energy, but also, because this transition is indistinct in practice, upon the amount of the light energy.
  • the point at which in a transition from transparent to black a density 2 is obtained depends upon the point at which in this transition an exposure energy associated with the density 2 is fOUlldplf the location of the transitions from black to transparent along a path is to be controlled, the exposure energy must be controlled.
  • the exposure energy depends upon the intensity of illumination on the photographic material and upon the exposure time.
  • the photographic material may be exposed by means of a light spot which is stationary relative to the material or by means of a quasi-stationary light spot, by exposing with a light pulse of very short duration while moving the material.
  • the photographic material may be exposed by means of a light spot which essentially moves relative to the material.
  • the exposure time is given by r l'lv, where l is the length of the lightspot in the direction of writing and v is the writing velocity.
  • T will assume an undesirable value owing to the accelerations and decelerations which occur at the beginning and at the end respectively of a line being written. The consequent undesirable effects can be eliminated partly only by adaptation of the intensity of illumination.
  • a constant exposure energy per unit area is obtainable throughout the entire length of a pattem element to be system as a whole relative to the photographic material.
  • Matching errors may readily slip in during the com plicated controlling process and they will result in incorrect locations of the beginning and the end of a pattern element.
  • a large disadvantage is that accelerations and decelerations of the spot of light relative to the photographic material occur outside the line segment, and this takes additional time.
  • the invention provides a simple method of writing mask patterns by means of light, in which method the aforementioned disadvantages do not occur.
  • the invention is characterized in that the length of the light spot in the direction of writing is determined by two boundaries which are separately controlled so that for each infinitesimal element of a pattern element to be written the time elapsing between the passage of the initial boundary of the light spot and the passage of the final boundary of the light spot over the infinitesimal element is the same, irrespective of the accelerations or decelerations in the movement of the light spot relative to the photographic material.
  • the exposure time is equal for each infinitesimal element.
  • the exposure energy also will be the same for each infinitesimal element of the pattern elementbeing written.
  • the light spot width at right angles to the writing direction is determined by two adjustable transverse boundaries which lie, at least substantially, in the same plane as the initial and final boundaries.
  • the initial and final boundaries and the transverse boundaries may materially be spaced from the photographic material by a very small distance. However, it is more advantageous to dispose the boundaries at some distance from the photographic material-and to form reduced images of them by means of a lens system.
  • the initial and final boundaries are constituted by two knives which are arranged in the path of the light from the light source to the photographic material present during the writing process, during which process one of the knives is stationary with respect to an optical system which forms the light spot, and the other is movable with respect to this optical system.
  • the transverse boundaries are constituted by one of a number of transparent areas of different lengths provided in the radial direction in an opaque disc which is rotatable about an axis at right angles to the disc.
  • an apparatus for carrying out the method according to the invention there is arranged in the path of the light between the boundaries and the lens system a mirror system mounted in a rotatable drum so that the axis of rotation substantially coincides with the optical axis of the lens system.
  • the mirror system may comprise a reflecting prism and a plane mirror.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the principle of the invention
  • FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the apparatus according to the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the apparatus according to the invention taken on the line 22' of FIG. 3.
  • a photographic plate on which the mask patterns are to be written is designated 1.
  • the x direction is the direction in which the light spot is swept over the photographic material.
  • the photographic plate itself is displaceable in a direction y at right angles to the x direction, i.e. at right angles to the plane of the drawing in FIG. 1.
  • the light spot is bounded in the writing direction by knives A and B.
  • These knives"A and B are note material knives but they are the images of material knives A and B produced by a lens system 7 (see FIG. 3).
  • the knife image A is moved according to a function:
  • the exposure time (tgzposure temi tbeginn1ny) is constant for each 0 s x s x, and equal to 7.
  • Each image element can be written starting from the stationary condition, which is important for the total writing time required and for the freedom of geometry.
  • the method according to the invention may be carried out by means of an apparatus as shown in FIG. 3.
  • light from a source of light 4 is concentrated on to one of a number of slits in a disc 6 by a condenser 5. After passing through this slit the light beam passes through the opening between the material knives A and B located close to the disc 6.
  • the knives A and B and the part of the respective slit located between the knives are imaged by an objective 7; A is the image ofA and B is the image of B.
  • FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the disc 6 and of the knives A and B viewed according to the line ZZ' of FIG. 3.
  • the disc is provided with radial slits S of different lengths. By rotating the disc, one of the slits is lined up with the knives A and B. The length of this slit determines the width of the image element to be written;
  • the assembly of the projection system (4, 5, 7) and of the rotatable disc 6 may bemoved relative to the photographic material in the .writing direction 1;, for example by moving the photographic material in its plane.
  • the knife A is stationary with respect to the optical axis and hence follows the movements of the projection. system.
  • the knife B is movable relative to the projection system-and hence to the knife A also.
  • the desired absolute movement of the knife B and its desired movement relative to the knife A are computed in a device, not shown, and the signals resulting from the computation are applied to the device controlling the movement of the knife B, which device is designated 8 in FIGS. 3 and 4.
  • FIGS. 3 and 4 show the case in which writing is effected in a direction from left to right.
  • writing may alternatively .be in a direction from right to left.
  • the knife B will be stationary with respect to the projection system andthe knife A will be movable relative to this system.
  • both knives A and B may be controlled.
  • a mirror system mounted in a rotatable drum 9 is arranged between the knives A and B and the objective.
  • the axis of rotation substantially coincides with the optical axis of the lens system 7.
  • the mirror system comprises a reflecting prism 10 and a plane mirror 11.
  • the incident beam is first reflected by a reflecting surface 12 to the plane mirror 1 1.
  • This mirror reflects the beam to a reflecting surface 13, and this surface directs the beam on to the lens system 7.
  • the drum 9 and hence the mirror-system. 10 llare rotated, A' and B will be rotated.
  • writing may be effected in any desired direction.
  • an area of 200 X 200 mm could be written with a writing speed of 10 mm per second and -with accelerations and decelerations in the writing manufacture of photomasks for integrated circuits and large-capacity stores.
  • the method and apparatus according to the invention may also be used for direct writing of mask patterns on a semi-conductor material,
  • An apparatus for writing a mask pattern on photographic material comprising a source of light, a slit means, an optical. system for projecting the light through said slit means and onto the photographic material, said slit'means having two oppositely located boundaries which determine the length of the lightincident on the photographic material in the direction of writing, means to move the one of said boundaries at a variable rate in a path which corresponds to the mask pattern to be written, and means to move the other boundary in correspondence with said one boundary after a constant time delay so that the time elapsed between the forward and rear edges of the incident light past each infinitesimal element of the photographic material is the same.
  • An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, further comprising an opaque disc having a plurality of transparent slots for determining the width of the light incident on the photographic material, said slots being of different lengths and being radially disposed.
  • said optical system comprises a mirror system mounted in a rotatable drum, the axis of the drum substantially coinciding with the axis of the projected light.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Exposure And Positioning Against Photoresist Photosensitive Materials (AREA)
  • Exposure Of Semiconductors, Excluding Electron Or Ion Beam Exposure (AREA)
  • Projection-Type Copiers In General (AREA)
US81276A 1969-10-18 1970-10-16 Method of, and apparatus for, writing mask patterns on photographic material by means of light Expired - Lifetime US3688655A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
NL6915794A NL6915794A (es) 1969-10-18 1969-10-18

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3688655A true US3688655A (en) 1972-09-05

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ID=19808166

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US81276A Expired - Lifetime US3688655A (en) 1969-10-18 1970-10-16 Method of, and apparatus for, writing mask patterns on photographic material by means of light

Country Status (10)

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US (1) US3688655A (es)
JP (1) JPS5128189B1 (es)
AT (1) AT307068B (es)
BE (1) BE757658A (es)
CH (1) CH515529A (es)
ES (1) ES384612A1 (es)
FR (1) FR2066104A5 (es)
GB (1) GB1330343A (es)
NL (1) NL6915794A (es)
SE (1) SE354526B (es)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3836916A (en) * 1973-02-26 1974-09-17 Ibm Apparatus for exposing lines on a photosensitive surface
US3848520A (en) * 1972-07-24 1974-11-19 Gerber Scientific Instr Co Line drawing photoexposure device with image rotating means
US3975705A (en) * 1974-02-11 1976-08-17 Seiscom Delta Inc. Color display of geophysical and other data
US4070187A (en) * 1974-02-11 1978-01-24 Seiscom Delta Inc. Color display of data
EP0149016A2 (en) * 1983-12-30 1985-07-24 International Business Machines Corporation A variable size circular aperture camera
WO2009124595A1 (en) * 2008-04-11 2009-10-15 Carl Zeiss Smt Ag Optical aperture device

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3710702A (en) * 1971-06-01 1973-01-16 Ibm Optical exposure head

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3323414A (en) * 1963-06-06 1967-06-06 Ritchie David Scarth Apparatus for automatically copying lines
US3330182A (en) * 1965-10-01 1967-07-11 Gerber Scientific Instr Co Device for exposing discrete portions of a photosensitive surface to a variable intensity light beam

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3323414A (en) * 1963-06-06 1967-06-06 Ritchie David Scarth Apparatus for automatically copying lines
US3330182A (en) * 1965-10-01 1967-07-11 Gerber Scientific Instr Co Device for exposing discrete portions of a photosensitive surface to a variable intensity light beam

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3848520A (en) * 1972-07-24 1974-11-19 Gerber Scientific Instr Co Line drawing photoexposure device with image rotating means
US3836916A (en) * 1973-02-26 1974-09-17 Ibm Apparatus for exposing lines on a photosensitive surface
US3975705A (en) * 1974-02-11 1976-08-17 Seiscom Delta Inc. Color display of geophysical and other data
US4070187A (en) * 1974-02-11 1978-01-24 Seiscom Delta Inc. Color display of data
EP0149016A2 (en) * 1983-12-30 1985-07-24 International Business Machines Corporation A variable size circular aperture camera
US4573779A (en) * 1983-12-30 1986-03-04 International Business Machines Corporation Variable size circular aperture camera
EP0149016A3 (en) * 1983-12-30 1986-12-30 International Business Machines Corporation A variable size circular aperture camera
WO2009124595A1 (en) * 2008-04-11 2009-10-15 Carl Zeiss Smt Ag Optical aperture device
US20110063595A1 (en) * 2008-04-11 2011-03-17 Carl Zeiss Smt Ag Optical aperture device
US8687169B2 (en) 2008-04-11 2014-04-01 Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh Optical aperture device
US9341955B2 (en) 2008-04-11 2016-05-17 Carl Zeiss Smt Gmbh Optical aperture device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
BE757658A (fr) 1971-04-16
SE354526B (es) 1973-03-12
JPS5128189B1 (es) 1976-08-17
DE2050422B2 (de) 1976-04-22
CH515529A (de) 1971-11-15
DE2050422A1 (de) 1971-04-29
AT307068B (de) 1973-05-10
NL6915794A (es) 1971-04-20
ES384612A1 (es) 1973-01-16
FR2066104A5 (es) 1971-08-06
GB1330343A (en) 1973-09-19

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