Abstract: An improvement in the process of manufacturing integrated circuits to enhance the yield, including the steps of tracking which of the individual dies on a photomask or related series of photomasks has produced a predominance of defective chips on the semiconductor wafer, then correcting the die images on the master photomasks and then producing new working masks. This procedure may be repeated several times, each time reducing the number of defect-bearing die images on the photomask and thereby providing a means by which a semiconductor device manufacturer can obtain better yields.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 15, 1976
Date of Patent:
December 26, 1978
Assignee:
Align-Rite Corporation
Inventors:
James L. MacDonald, Jr., Richard A. Mink