Claims
- 1. A method for forming a pattern in a photoresist material, comprising:
positioning a filter member in a light path of an illumination device, the filter member comprising a plurality of regions and a filtering material disposed over the plurality of regions, the filtering material having a variable characteristic that is independently adjustable for each region to enhance the uniformity of the intensity of the light; providing a mask in the light path, the mask having a pattern; and illuminating, according to the pattern, portions of a photoresist material with light from the illumination device having a variation in intensity of 0.5% or less, the light passing through the filter member and the mask.
- 2. A method for making a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
positioning a filter member in a light path of an illumination device, the filter member comprising a plurality of regions, each region being independently formed with a filtering material, a variable characteristic of the filtering material being independently manipulated to enhance uniformity in intensity of light from the illumination device; providing a mask in the light path, the mask having a pattern; forming a photoresist layer on the semiconductor device; and illuminating portions of the photoresist layer with the light from the illumination device according to the pattern, the light passing through the filter member and the mask to illuminate the photoresist layer.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the light from the illumination device varies in intensity by 0.5% or less over the portions of the photoresist layer that are illuminated.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises forming a device layer on the semiconductor wafer.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein forming a photoresist layer comprises forming a photoresist layer over the device layer.
- 6. The method of claim 2, wherein forming the photoresist layer comprises forming the photoresist layer over a substrate of the semiconductor device.
- 7. The method of claim 2, further comprising removing a portion of the photoresist layer according to the pattern.
- 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising removing a portion of a device layer under the photoresist layer according to the pattern.
- 9. A method for forming a filter member for use in an apparatus for patterning a photoresist material, the method comprising:
forming a filtering material over a substrate; defining a plurality of regions of the filter member, each region having a portion of the filtering material; and for each region of the filter member, removing a portion of the filtering material so that, when the filter member is used in the apparatus, light that passes through the filter member and illuminates the photoresist material has an intensity that varies by 0.5% or less.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the filtering material comprises chromium oxide.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein, after a portion of the filtering material has been removed, at least 90% of light is transmitted by each region of the filter member.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein removing a portion of the filtering material comprises removing a portion of the filtering material in each region to expose a portion of the substrate, a relative size of the filtering material which is removed determining the proportion of light transmitted through the region.
- 13. The method of claim 9, wherein removing a portion of the filtering material comprises decreasing a thickness of the filtering material in each region, the thickness of the filtering material determining the proportion of light transmitted through the region.
- 14. A method of forming a filter member for use in an apparatus for patterning a photoresist material, the method comprising:
defining a plurality of regions on a substrate; forming at least two electrodes in contact with each region; and forming a filtering material over the substrate, wherein an absorptivity characteristic of the filtering material for the wavelength region of interest depends on a magnitude of an electric field within the filtering material, the electric field being provided by application of a potential difference between the two electrodes so that, when the filter member is used in the apparatus, light that passes through the filter member and illuminates the photoresist material has an intensity that varies by 0.5% or less.
- 15. The method of claim 14, wherein one of the at least two electrodes is commonly used by at least two regions.
- 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the filtering material comprises a material with a band gap that depends on the magnitude of the electric field in the filtering material.
- 17. A method of forming a pattern in a photoresist material, the apparatus comprising:
illuminating a portion of the photoresist material according to a pattern; and positioning a filter member in a path of the light, the filter member comprising a plurality of regions and a filtering material disposed over the plurality of regions and extending to a border of the filter member, the filtering material having a variable characteristic that is independently adjustable for each region to enhance the uniformity of the intensity of the light.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the filtering material comprises a UV light-absorbent material and the variable characteristic of the filtering material comprises a thickness of the UV light absorbent material.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the filtering material comprises chromium oxide.
- 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the thickness of the filtering material is varied in each region by etching the filtering material for a variable period of time.
- 21. The method of claim 17, wherein the variable characteristic comprises an electrical state of the filtering material, the electrical state of the filtering material comprises a magnitude of an electrical field in the filtering material.
- 22. The method of claim 17, wherein the filtering member further comprises at least two electrodes in contact with the filtering material of the region for each of the plurality of regions.
- 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the filtering member further comprises a substrate, the filtering material being formed over the substrate and the at least two electrodes being formed in the substrate and under the filtering material.
- 24. The method of claim 22, wherein the filtering member further comprises a substrate, the filtering material being formed over the substrate and the at least two electrodes being formed adjacent to the filtering material and over the substrate.
RELATED PATENT DOCUMENT
[0001] This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/141,807, to which priority is claimed pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 120.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09141807 |
Aug 1998 |
US |
Child |
09874607 |
Jun 2001 |
US |