The present technology relates to a reticle and to a semiconductor lithography process.
Lithography processes allow for the accurate fabrication of semiconductor devices. Typically, light is passed through a reticle to form a pattern on a substrate. The pattern corresponds to a pattern which is formed in an opaque material on an underside of the reticle. In one approach, the light exposes a portion of a photoresist layer on the substrate according to the pattern. In the case of a positive photoresist, the portion of the photoresist that is exposed to light becomes soluble to, and is removed by, a photoresist developer while the remaining portion of the photoresist remains insoluble to the photoresist developer. The remaining portion of the photoresist can then be used as a mask to etch an underlying layer on the substrate. The remaining photoresist is subsequently removed to allow additional patterning. Or, a negative photoresist could be used in which the portion of the photoresist that is exposed to light becomes insoluble.