U.S. patent application number 11/160880 was filed with the patent office on 2005-11-03 for dynamic mask module.
Invention is credited to Jeng, Jeng-Ywan, Shen, Chang-Ho, Wang, Jia-Chang.
Application Number | 20050244757 11/160880 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34076668 |
Filed Date | 2005-11-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050244757 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jeng, Jeng-Ywan ; et
al. |
November 3, 2005 |
DYNAMIC MASK MODULE
Abstract
A dynamic mask module is disclosed, which comprises a
microcomputer system, a mask pattern generator and a light source.
The mask pattern generator is disposed over a substrate and
electrically connected to the microcomputer system. The
microcomputer system transmits an image signal to the mask pattern
generator. The light source is disposed over the mask pattern
generator to a photo-resist layer on the substrate. The mask
pattern generated by the dynamic mask module is a dynamic image and
the mask pattern can be changed on anytime. In addition, the
manufacturing cost can be and the manufacturing time can be
reduced.
Inventors: |
Jeng, Jeng-Ywan; (Taipei
City, TW) ; Wang, Jia-Chang; (Taipei City, TW)
; Shen, Chang-Ho; (Hsinchu City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JIANQ CHYUN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE
7 FLOOR-1, NO. 100
ROOSEVELT ROAD, SECTION 2
TAIPEI
100
TW
|
Family ID: |
34076668 |
Appl. No.: |
11/160880 |
Filed: |
July 14, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11160880 |
Jul 14, 2005 |
|
|
|
10707628 |
Dec 25, 2003 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
430/322 ;
430/394 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G03F 7/70291 20130101;
G03F 7/0035 20130101; H01L 21/30 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
430/322 ;
430/394 |
International
Class: |
G03F 007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 16, 2003 |
TW |
92128666 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A layer process, comprising: (a) providing a substrate; (b)
forming a photo-resist layer on the substrate; (c) transmitting an
image signal of a mask pattern from a microcomputer system to a
mask pattern generator, the mask pattern generator outputting the
mask pattern; (d) performing an exposure step for transferring the
mask pattern to the photo-resist layer; and (e) performing a
development step for removing a portion of the photo-resist layer
and forming a patterned photo-resist layer as same as the mask
pattern.
2. The layer process of claim 1, after step (e) further comprising:
(f) forming a supporting layer on the patterned photo-resist layer
for planarizating the patterned photo-resist layer; (g) forming
another photo-resist layer on the supporting layer; (h)
transmitting an image signal of another mask pattern from the
microcomputer system to the mask pattern generator, the mask
pattern generator outputting the another mask pattern; (i)
performing another exposure step for transferring the another mask
pattern to the another photo-resist layer; (j) performing another
development step for removing a portion of the another photo-resist
layer and forming another patterned photo-resist layer as same as
the another mask pattern; and (k) removing the supporting
layer.
3. The layer process of claim 2, before step (k) further comprising
at least repeating steps (f)-(j) once.
4. The layer process of claim 1, wherein a light source serving the
exposure step is a point light source or a surface light source;
when the light source is a point light source, the method further
comprises modifying a gray level of the mask pattern outputted from
the mask pattern generator for generating a gray level of a central
area of the mask pattern less than that of a field area
thereof.
5. The layer process of claim 1, wherein a light source serving the
exposure step is a point light source or a surface light source;
when the light source is a point light source, the method further
comprises temporarily turning off a transparent area within a
central area of the mask pattern generator for unifying exposure
energy.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a divisional of a prior application Ser.
No. 10/707,628, filed Dec. 25, 2003, which claims the priority
benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 92128666, filed Oct. 16,
2003.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a mask module, and more
particularly to a dynamic mask module for generating dynamic mask
patterns.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] During semiconductor fabrication, photolithography is an
essential process. Usually, whether a technology is complicate can
be determined by the number of the lithographic process and mask. A
mask is made from transparent glass and a patterned Cr layer is
formed thereon. When a light source is applied thereto, the mask
pattern can be transferred to the photo-resist on the
substrate.
[0006] For high resolution, uniformity of light, stability and
quality of mask are key factors thereof. Traditionally, the mask
patterns are taped out to the mask manufacturing companies for
fabricating masks. The number of the mask depends on the complexity
of the technology. The cost of mask depends on the resolution of
line width; that is also the main reason that causes the high cost
of mask.
[0007] For fabricating a semiconductor product, at least on mask is
required depending on the complexity of the technology. Therefore,
during the process loading and unloading masks increase process
time. Additionally, an alignment step is required after a mask is
changed, or misalignment of different layers occurs. Moreover,
traditional gray-level mask uses special and expensive material for
obtaining different exposure depths which is also a reason causing
high cost of fabrication.
[0008] For example, in rapid prototyping (RP), physical application
of the stereolithography printing process takes place via a
commercial system known as a stereolithography apparatus (SLA),
manufactured by 3D Systems, Inc., Valencia, Calif. It uses
ultraviolet hardening resin via scanning mirror and takes a long
time. In order to improve process time, solid ground curing (SGC)
with ultraviolet is applied by using surface exposure. It includes:
mask plotter cycle and mold growth cycle for reducing process time.
The method comprises: receiving cross-sectional data, performing
image process, forming covering plate and forming image by static
reflection loading. Although SGC can improve the process time, the
time for loading and unloading masks and alignment steps are still
required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide
a dynamic mask module, which is adapted to generate dynamic mask
patterns and applied to exposure, development of semiconductor
manufacturing process and surface exposure rapid prototyping, for
reducing fabrication cost and process time.
[0010] To meet the object described above, the present invention
discloses a dynamic mask module adapted to transfer a mask pattern
to a photo-resist on a substrate. The dynamic mask module
comprises: a microcomputer system; a mask pattern generator; and a
light source. The mask pattern generator is disposed over the
substrate and electrically connected to the microcomputer system.
The microcomputer system transmits an image signal of the mask
pattern to the mask pattern generator for generating pluralities of
opaque areas and transparent areas and outputting the mask pattern.
The light source is disposed over the mask pattern generator and
light of the light source projects on the opaque areas and
transparent areas for transferring the mask pattern to the
photo-resist.
[0011] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a
focusing lens is disposed between the mask pattern generator and
the substrate adapted to minify or magnify the image of mask
pattern. In addition, the mask pattern generator is, for example, a
transmissive LCD or a DLP optical projector. Moreover, the light
source is, for example, ultraviolet or visible light.
[0012] To reach the object described above, the present invention
further discloses a method for generating a dynamic mask pattern,
which comprises: providing a single-layer contour pattern having an
outside contour and at least one inside contour; identifying the
outside contour and the inside contour; establishing a figure
window and filling color therein; establishing the outside contour
and the inside contour and filling color therein; and sequentially
attaching the outside contour and the inside contour filled with
color to the figure window for forming a mask pattern.
[0013] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
method further comprises, for example, filling black in the figure
window after establishing the figure window. In addition, the
method further comprises filling white within the outside contour
and filling black within the inside contour after establishing the
outside contour and the inside contour.
[0014] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
method further comprises transferring the mask pattern into an
image signal and transmitting the image signal to a mask pattern
generator for generating pluralities of opaque areas and
transparent areas and outputting the mask pattern after
sequentially attaching the outside contour and the inside contour
filled with color to the figure window for forming a mask
pattern.
[0015] To achieve the object described above, the present invention
further discloses a layer process, comprising: (a) providing a
substrate; (b) forming a photo-resist layer on the substrate; (c)
transmitting an image signal of a mask pattern from a microcomputer
system to a mask pattern generator, the mask pattern generator
outputting the mask pattern; (d) performing an exposure step for
transferring the mask pattern to the photo-resist layer; and (e)
performing a development step for removing a portion of the
photo-resist layer and forming a patterned photo-resist layer as
same as the mask pattern.
[0016] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
method, after step (e), further comprises: (f) forming a supporting
layer on the patterned photo-resist layer for planarizating the
patterned photo-resist layer; (g) forming another photo-resist
layer on the supporting layer; (h) transmitting an image signal of
another mask pattern from the microcomputer system to the mask
pattern generator, the mask pattern generator outputting the
another mask pattern; (i) performing another exposure step for
transferring the another mask pattern to the another photo-resist
layer; (j) performing another development step for removing a
portion of the another photo-resist layer and forming another
patterned photo-resist layer as same as the another mask pattern;
and (k) removing the supporting layer. Additionally, before step
(k) it further comprises at least repeating steps (f)-(j) once.
[0017] In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the
light source of the layer process is, for example, a point light
source or a surface light source, wherein when the light source is
a point light source, the method further comprises modifying a gray
level of the mask pattern outputted from the mask pattern generator
for generating a gray level of a central area of the mask pattern
less than that of a field area thereof. In addition, the method
further comprises temporarily turning off a transparent area within
a central area of the mask pattern generator for unifying exposure
energy. Therefore, light passing through the mask pattern generator
is unified.
[0018] In order to make the aforementioned and other objects,
features and advantages of the present invention understandable, a
preferred embodiment accompanied with figures is described in
detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing a preferred dynamic
mask module of the present invention.
[0020] FIGS. 2A-2I are a schematic process flow showing a preferred
method for generating the dynamic mask pattern.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a schematic process flow showing a preferred
method for forming a patterned photo-resist.
DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS
[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing showing a preferred dynamic
mask module of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the
dynamic mask module 100 comprises a microcomputer system 110; a
mask pattern generator 120; and a light source 130. The mask
pattern generators 20 is disposed over a substrate 10 and
electrically connected to the microcomputer system 110. The
microcomputer system 110 transmits an image signal of the mask
pattern to the mask pattern generator 120 for generating
pluralities of opaque areas and transparent areas and outputting
the mask pattern. The light source 130 is, for example, ultraviolet
or visible light, which is disposed over the mask pattern generator
120 and light of the light source 130 projects on the opaque areas
and transparent areas for transferring the mask pattern to a
photo-resist 12 on the substrate 10.
[0023] In order to minify and magnify the image of mask pattern, a
focusing lens 140 is disposed between the mask pattern generator
120 and the substrate 10.
[0024] As the descriptions mentioned above, the mask pattern
generator 120 is, for example, a transmissive LCD controlling pixel
electrodes via thin film transistors for generating pluralities of
opaque and transparent areas and outputting the mask pattern. In
addition, the mask pattern generator 120 is, for example, a digital
light processing (DLP) optical projector the angles of the
reflective mirrors via the digital mirror display within the
optical projector and outputting the mask pattern.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 1, the microcomputer system 110 transmits
an image signal of the mask pattern from to the mask pattern
generator 120 for generating an image as same as the mask pattern.
Therefore, the mask pattern generator 120 can generate different
mask patterns by setting the microcomputer system 110 and be deemed
as a dynamic mask. During manufacturing devices, the traditional
glass masks deposited with Cr are not required and there is not
alignment issue. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost and process
time are reduced. The method of generating the dynamic mask pattern
via the microcomputer 110 is described below.
[0026] FIGS. 2A-2I are a schematic process flow showing a preferred
method for generating the dynamic mask pattern. First, a
single-layer contour pattern 200 is provided as shown in FIG. 2A,
which has an outside contour 210 and at least one inside contour
220. There are four inside contours in the embodiment. The method
of generating the single-layer contour pattern 200 can, for
example, comprise: outputting STL files by CAD; compiling polygon
operation files of the STL files by AUTOEDIT within RP E-DARTS; and
unpolygonizing the files into the single-layer contour 200
consisted of HPGL files. Then, the outside contour 210 and the
inside contour 220 are identified as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C. A
figure window 300 is established and color, such as black, is
filled therein as shown in FIG. 2D. Then, the outside contour 210
and the inside contour 220 are established, and, for example, white
is filled into the outside contour 210 and black is filled into the
inside contour 220. Finally, the color-filled outside contour 210
is attached to the figure window 300 as shown in FIG. 2E and the
color-filled inside contour 220 is sequentially attached to the
figure window 300 as shown in FIGS. 2F-2I for constituting a mask
pattern. The image signal of the mask pattern then can be
transmitted to the mask pattern generator 120 by the microcomputer
110 for outputting the mask pattern.
[0027] The mask pattern generated by the dynamic mask module of the
present invention can be applied to exposure, development of
semiconductor manufacturing process, surface exposure rapid
prototyping technology, or any other filed, such as Lens or
V-Groove). Following is a method for forming a patterned
photo-resist.
[0028] FIG. 3 is a schematic process flow showing a preferred
method for forming a patterned photo-resist. Referring to FIG. 3, a
substrate is provided at step S1. A photo-resist layer is formed on
the substrate in step S2. In step S3, a mask pattern is outputted
by transmitting an image signal of the mask pattern from the
microcomputer system 110 to the mask pattern generator 120, such as
transmissive LCD or DLP optical projector, as shown in FIG. 1. The
mask pattern generator 120 generates pluralities of opaque and
transparent areas and outputs the mask pattern. An exposure step is
performed in step S4 for transferring the mask pattern to the
photo-resist layer. A development step, for example, with developer
is performed in step S5 for removing a portion of the photo-resist
layer and forming a patterned photo-resist layer as same as the
mask pattern. Therefore, the single-layer process is complete.
[0029] For performing multi-layer process and fabricating 3-D
device, after step S5, the method further comprises: forming a
supporting layer on the patterned photo-resist layer for
planarizating the patterned photo-resist layer is step S6. Another
photo-resist layer is formed on the supporting layer. Then, an
image signal of another mask pattern is transmitted from the
microcomputer system to the mask pattern generator and the mask
pattern generator outputs the another mask pattern. Another
exposure step is performed for transferring the another mask
pattern to the another photo-resist layer. Another development step
is performed for removing a portion of the another photo-resist
layer and forming another patterned photo-resist layer as same as
the another mask pattern. Finally, the supporting layer is removed
in step S7. Therefore, the multi-layer process is finished.
[0030] Accordingly, the supporting layer planarizes the patterned
photo-resist layer and supports the forming the second patterned
photo-resist layer. Then, the repetition of steps S2-S6 can
generate additional mask pattern for forming a multi-layer
structure.
[0031] It should be noted that the light source of the layer
process is, for example, a point light source. Because a point
light source generates high intensity at the central area of the
mask pattern generator 120, the light intensity will not be unified
when the mask pattern generator 120 has same gray level for all
areas. Therefore, during the exposure step, the gray level of the
mask pattern outputted from the mask pattern generator 120 can be
modified for generating a gray level of a central area of the mask
pattern less than that of a field area thereof. The method of
modifying the gray level of the mask pattern via the mask pattern
generator 120 can avoid the cost stemming from the use of specific
mask and obtain different exposure depth.
[0032] One with ordinary skill in the art will understand that
unifying light passing through the mask pattern generator 120 can
be achieved by temporarily turning off the transparent area within
a central area of the mask pattern generator for unifying exposure
energy.
[0033] Accordingly, the dynamic mask module can generate dynamic
mask patterns and be applied to exposure, development of
semiconductor manufacturing process and surface exposure rapid
prototyping technology. Therefore, the process time can be reduced
and no traditional mask is required for forming 3-D microstructure.
Moreover, no alignment issue during manufacturing exists. The cost
of fabrication and process time are both reduce. Additionally, the
mask pattern generator of the present invention can generates a
mask pattern having different gray level by modifying the gray
level of the mask pattern outputted from the mask pattern
generator. Therefore, different exposure depths are formed during
an exposure process.
[0034] Although the present invention has been described in terms
of exemplary embodiments, it is not limited thereto. Rather, the
appended claims should be constructed broadly to include other
variants and embodiments of the invention which may be made by
those skilled in the field of this art without departing from the
scope and range of equivalents of the invention.
* * * * *