A new photomask with ion-implanted resist

A novel photomask fabrication method using ion implantation has been developed, where energetic ions are implanted into the patterned resist on a glass substrate. The optical transmission of the resist film was exceedingly decreased and the resist becomes more mechanically and chemically resistant by high energy, high dose ion implantation. These results are suitably applied to photomask fabrication. In this paper process conditions such as types of resist, resist thickness, ion species, energy and dose will be discussed. And some of the evaluation results on the implanted photomasks will be also discussed in relation to optical density, pattern definition, scratch resistance and chemical attacks.