Abstract: A method of manufacturing a solid-state image sensor, includes forming a color-filter layer including a plurality of color filters on a wiring structure arranged on a semiconductor substrate on which a plurality of photoelectric converters are formed, forming a photosensitive microlens material layer on the color-filter layer, and forming microlenses by forming a latent image on the microlens material layer by exposing the microlens material layer using a photomask having a transmitted light distribution corresponding to a density of light-shielding portions each having a size smaller than a resolution limit of an exposure apparatus, and developing the microlens material layer, wherein the color-filter layer has a surface step, and the microlens material layer has a surface step corresponding to the surface step of the color-filter layer.

Abstract: Provided is a method of forming a pattern including the steps of forming a first pattern including a depressed or protruding alignment mark on a substrate; forming a flattening layer on the first pattern; removing a part of the flatting layer above the alignment mark; forming a processed layer on the flattening layer to cover the alignment mark; performing alignment by optically detecting a position of the alignment mark from above the processed layer, using light; and forming a second pattern by patterning the processed layer on the basis of the alignment.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing an electronic device, comprises forming a material layer, forming an anti-halation layer on the material layer, forming a resist layer on the anti-halation layer, forming a resist pattern including a plurality of island patterns by patterning the resist layer through an exposure step and a development step, forming a mask layer having a plurality of moderate convex shape portions by annealing the resist pattern to change shapes of the island patterns to moderate convex shapes, and plasma-processing the mask layer, the anti-halation layer, and the material layer so as to remove the mask layer and the anti-halation layer and change the material layer to a microlens array including a plurality of microlenses, wherein the anti-halation layer reduces halation in the exposure step.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a photomask used to form a lens. The method includes the steps of generating mask pattern data for each of a plurality of grid cells constituting a mask pattern for the lens, and fabricating the photomask based on the mask pattern data. The step of generating the mask pattern data includes acquiring data which represents a transmitted light distribution required for the photomask to fabricate the lens, in which the transmitted light distribution includes a quantity of transmitted light in each of the plurality of grid cells, and determining whether to place a shield on each of the plurality of grid cells by binarizing the quantity of transmitted light in each of the plurality of grid cells in order of increasing or decreasing distance from a center of the mask pattern using an error diffusion method.

Abstract: A method of generating photomask data for fabricating a microlens array, the photomask having a microlens pattern including light-shielding portions and non-light-shielding portions, in each rectangular region including a surrounding region having four sides of the rectangular region as outer edges and a primary region having boundaries that are inner edges of the surrounding region, the surrounding region being configured by four strip regions each including one of the four sides as its part, and a width between the outer edge and the inner edge being not more than 1/2 of a wavelength of exposure light, includes determining a layout of light-shielding portions and non-light-shielding portions in the surrounding region so that a density of light-shielding portions is set to fall within a range from 0% to 15%.

Abstract: An apparatus according to the present invention in which a first substrate including a photoelectric conversion element and a gate electrode of a transistor, and a second substrate including a peripheral circuit portion are placed upon each other. The first substrate does not include a high-melting-metal compound layer, and the second substrate includes a high-melting-metal compound layer.

Abstract: A method of generating mask pattern data of a photomask used to form microlenses divides a pattern formation surface of a mask pattern to be used for the photomask into a plurality of grid cells, acquires data that represent a transmitted light distribution of the mask pattern to be used for the photomask, determines whether to place a shield on each of the plurality of grid cells by binarizing the plurality of grid cells in order of increasing or decreasing distance from a center of the pattern formation surface using an error diffusion method, to acquire the transmitted light distribution, and generates mask pattern data that represent an arrangement of the shields, based on the determination.

Abstract: A method for generating mask pattern data of a photomask used to form microlenses divides a pattern formation surface of a mask pattern to be used for the photomask into a plurality of grid cells, acquires data which represents transmitted light distribution of the mask pattern to be used for the photomask, determines whether to place a shield on each of the plurality of grid cells by binarizing the plurality of grid cells in order of increasing or decreasing distance from a center of the pattern formation surface using an error diffusion method to acquire the transmitted light distribution, and generates mask pattern data which represents an arrangement of the shields based on results from the determining step.