Abstract: A contact hole forming method uses a negative resist film having an absorptivity of 0.5 .mu.m.sup.-1 or above to suppress standing-wave effect in forming contact holes in a silicon dioxide film or the like underlying the negative resist film by anisotropic etching. The contact hole forming method comprises steps of: applying a negative resist having an absorptivity of 0.5 .mu.m.sup.-1 or above to the stepped surface of a stepped film formed on a substrate to form a negative resist film having a flat surface; exposing the negative resist film through a photomask to laser light emitted by a krypton fluoride excimer laser; developing the exposed negative resist film; and etching the silicon dioxide film or the like by anisotropic etching using the developed negative resist film as an etching mask and an etching gas containing a fluorocarbon or a mixture of a fluorocarbon and hydrogen to form contact holes.

Abstract: A proximity effect correction method used in a delineation method employing an electron ray beam, in which the electron ray beam is illuminated on an electron ray sensitive resist material for delineating a pattern on the resist material. The method consists in dividing the pattern for delineation into pre-set unitary domains, and correcting the exposure light volume of an electron ray beam illuminated on each unitary domain in consideration of the accumulated energy ascribable to backward scattering of electrons.

Abstract: This invention provides an alignment method in which alignment correction coefficients are calculated by a method of least squares in reference to the coordinates of each of the alignment marks and the coordinates of the rational grid points, corrected coordinates of the alignment marks from the coordinates of the rational grid points on the basis of the alignment mark correction coefficients and each of their statistical functions are calculated, the differences of these coordinates are calculated, the residuals at each of the alignment marks are calculated in reference to a difference between the alignment displacement tolerance values in the predetermined directions X and Y and their coordinates, and the corrected coordinates of the alignment marks associated with the first pattern for optically exposing the second pattern from the alignment mark correction coefficients and their random number elements when the residual sum of squares becomes a minimum value, thereby the most optimal correction of the alig