Abstract: A substrate labeling system comprises a first laser assembly having a first laser and a first lens, a second laser assembly having a second laser and a second lens, and a controller for directing the first laser and the second laser incident on a portion of a subsurface of a substrate to mark the substrate without generating particle defects on a surface of the substrate.

Abstract: An EUV Lithography mask, a fabrication method, and use method thereof is provided. A preferred embodiment comprises a substrate, a Bragg reflector disposed upon the substrate, a buffer disposed upon the Bragg reflector, and an absorber layer disposed upon the buffer. The materials in the mask have selected magnetic properties. In a preferred embodiment, the buffer is a hard magnetic material, and the absorber is a soft magnetic material. Another preferred embodiment includes a mask manufacturing method further including a mask step. In a preferred embodiment, an electron mirror microscope is used to inspect the mask by imaging its topography with respect to its magnetic properties in an applied magnetic field.

Abstract: A reflector structure suitable for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) is provided. The structure comprises a substrate having a multi-layer reflector. A capping layer is formed over the multi-layer reflector to prevent oxidation. In an embodiment, the capping layer is formed of an inert oxide, such as Al2O3, HfO2, ZrO2, Ta2O5, Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2, or the like. The capping layer may be formed by reactive sputtering in an oxygen environment, by non-reactive sputtering wherein the materials are sputtered directly from the respective oxide targets, by non-reactive sputtering of the metallic layer followed by full or partial oxidation (e.g., by natural oxidation, by oxidation in oxygen-containing plasmas, by oxidation in ozone (O3), or the like), by atomic level deposition (e.g., ALCVD), or the like.

Abstract: An EUV lithography system is disclosed. The EUV lithography system comprises a mask chamber having one or more vacuum valves for isolating the mask chamber from the rest of the lithography system, a gas supply line adapted to provide an inert gas to the mask chamber to dechuck the reticle, and a vacuum pump adapted to re-evacuate the mask chamber after the reticle has been released. The one or more vacuum valves are closed to isolate the mask chamber from the rest of the EUV lithography system before venting the mask chamber with an inert gas, such as nitrogen, to release the reticle from the chuck. The chuck in the EUV system may further comprise a contact surface for holding a back surface of the reticle to the chuck, and a plurality of openings in the chuck, each opening having a first end and a second end, the first end of each opening being coupled to the gas supply line, and the second end of each opening being coupled to the contact surface of the chuck.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method in which an eclectically nonconductive mask layer is applied to an electrically conductive contact layer which is supported by a substrate layer. A free space is made in the mask layer. Then, a plurality of layers are electrochemically deposited in the free space. Then, layers are applied above the layer which was deposited last. Then, in a removal process, the mask layer is removed down to the height of the top layer.

Abstract: A reflection mask has a multilayer reflection layer for the reflection of radiated-in radiation by constructive interference of the reflected partial beams and a multilayer layer, whose periodicity effects a destructive interference of the reflected partial beams and which performs the function of an absorber. One of the two multilayer layers is patterned in accordance with a structure to be imaged.

Abstract: A radiation-sensitive coating material, in addition to a base polymer, has a solvent and a radiation-active substance which forms an acid on irradiation by light (including energetic electrons or ions), a fluorescent substance which alters its fluorescence property subject to a change in the acid content of its surroundings. In a process for exposing a substrate coated with the coating material at least one sensor in the exposure chamber of the exposure apparatus measures the intensity of the change in fluorescence spectrum as a function of time during the exposure operation. From the course of intensity at the time of an individual line of the fluorescence spectrum or the intensity integrated over a wavelength interval it is possible to determine the endpoint of the exposure operation by way of electronic algorithms. Deviations from experimentally determined ideal curves of the intensity course provide information on erroneous functions in the course of coating material application and exposure.

Abstract: A photolithographic mask for patterning a photosensitive material, in particular on a wafer, has at least one structure region for imaging a structure on the photosensitive material, and an absorber structure for absorbing incident radiation. At least one structure region is provided and has at least one protective layer made of chemically and mechanically resistive material. In this way, the photolithographic mask can be cleaned chemically and/or mechanically, without the structure regions being attacked and damaged by the chemical and/or mechanical cleaning media. Furthermore, a plurality of methods are possible for fabricating a photolithographic mask of this type.

Abstract: A reflection mask has a multilayer reflection layer for the reflection of radiated-in radiation by constructive interference of the reflected partial beams and a multilayer layer, whose periodicity effects a destructive interference of the reflected partial beams and which performs the function of an absorber. One of the two multilayer layers is patterned in accordance with a structure to be imaged.

Abstract: The invention relates, inter alia, to a method in which an electrically nonconductive mask layer (16) is applied to an electrically conductive contact layer which is supported by a substrate layer (12). A free space is made in the mask layer (16). Then, a plurality of layers (52 to 60) are electrochemically deposited in the free space. Then, layers (72 and 76) are applied above the layer (60) which was deposited last. Then, in a removal process, the mask layer (16) is removed down to the height of the top layer (76).

Abstract: A semiconductor layer is irradiated with an intensity-modulated laser emission to induce a modulated optical reflectivity which is a valid measure for the density of the electronic inhomogeneities in the semiconductor layer. The use of a test laser beam having a wavelength in a range of 200-345 nm makes exact measurements possible in the entire range of application and is particularly enabling for identification of low and high implantation doses and the identification of residual damage in crystalline semiconductor layers.