A photosensitive composition with which a cured film that includes a pattern having excellent rectangularity and suppressed thermal shrinkage can be formed is provided. A cured film formed of the photosensitive composition, an optical filter, a laminate, a pattern forming method, a solid image pickup element, an image display device, and an infrared sensor are provided. The photosensitive composition includes a near infrared absorber, a curable compound, a photoinitiator, and an ultraviolet absorber, in which in thermogravimetry, the ultraviolet absorber has a mass loss percentage of 5% or lower at 150 C. and has a mass loss percentage of 40% or higher at 220 C.

A silsesquioxane-containing composition comprising a silsesquioxane resin and an oxaamine of formula (II) (see description), products prepared therefrom, photoresist compositions comprising the silsesquioxane-containing composition and a photoacid generator, products prepared therefrom, methods of making and using same, and manufactured articles and semiconductor devices containing same.

A chemically amplified positive-type photosensitive resin composition capable of suppressing the occurrence of footing in which the width of the bottom (the side proximal to the surface of a support) becomes narrower than the top (the side proximal to the surface of a resist layer) in the nonresist portion when a resist pattern serving as a template for a plated article is formed on a metal surface of a substrate having a metal surface using the composition. A mercapto compound with a specific structure is added to the composition and includes an acid generator which generates acid upon exposure to an irradiated active ray or radiation and a resin the solubility of which in alkali increases under the action of acid.

There is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method which includes: a step of radiating an X-ray to a semiconductor wafer on which two alignment marks are formed and then detecting an intensity of a diffracted X-ray of the X-ray coming from the semiconductor wafer, to thereby determine a direction of a predetermined crystal plane of the semiconductor device, viewed from a direction perpendicular to a surface of the semiconductor wafer; a step of calculating an angle ? created between the direction of the predetermined crystal plane and a straight line connecting these two alignment marks; a step of adjusting a position of the semiconductor wafer so that an angle created between a predetermined reference direction and the straight line is matched with the angle ?; and a step of transferring a pattern onto the semiconductor wafer with reference to the predetermined reference direction.

An optical system (OS) for focusing a beam of radiation (B) on a region of interest in a metrology apparatus is described. The beam of radiation (B) comprises radiation in a soft X-ray or Extreme Ultraviolet spectral range. The optical system (OS) comprises a first stage (S1) for focusing the beam of radiation at an intermediate focus region. The optical system (OS) comprises a second stage (S2) for focusing the beam of radiation from the intermediate focus region onto the region of interest. The first and second stages each comprise a Kirkpatrick-Baez reflector combination. At least one reflector comprises an aberration-correcting reflector.

Pattern-dependent random deviations in measurement of optimal focus distances can be minimized by separating scan paths into multiple types of scan paths that scan only a respective predetermined image region in semiconductor dies. A substrate including in-process semiconductor dies is coated with a photoresist layer, and is located onto a stage in a lithographic exposure tool. Maps of optimal focus distances are generated by performing optimal focus distance scans that cover a respective subset of image regions having distinct image patterns. The substrate can be leveled with respect to an optics system of the lithographic exposure tool employing a weighted average of multiple maps of optimal focus distances. Once the substrate is leveled on the stage, a lithographic exposure process can be performed with enhanced uniformity in the focus distances across the in-process semiconductor dies.

Methods and systems for determining one or more characteristics of light in an optical system are provided. One system includes a detector positioned in a path of light between a light source in the optical system and a specimen for which the optical system performs a process. The detector includes a center cut-out configured to allow only a first portion of the light from the light source to pass therethrough and four or more detector segments positioned around the center cut-out and in a path of only a second portion of the light from the light source. The four or more detector segments are configured to separately generate output responsive to the light incident thereon. The system also includes a control subsystem configured for determining one or more characteristics of the light from the light source based on the output separately generated by the four or more detector segments.

The present invention provides a resist composition containing a base resin composed of a polymer compound that contains a repeating unit a shown by formula (1) and a repeating unit b having either or both of a carboxyl group in which a hydrogen atom is substituted with an acid-labile group and a phenolic hydroxyl group in which a hydrogen atom is substituted with an acid-labile group, with a weight average molecular weight of 1,000 to 500,000. There can be provided a resist composition that has high sensitivity and high resolution, and can give a pattern with low dimensional variation and good pattern profile after exposure. ##STR00001##
wherein R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; Z represents a hydroxybenzoquinone group, or a hydroxynaphthoquinone group optionally containing a substituent; and a fraction a of the repeating unit a satisfies 0<a<1.0, and a fraction b of the repeating unit b satisfies 0<b<1.0.

Disclosed is an apparatus for lithography patterning. The apparatus includes a substrate stage configured to hold a substrate coated with a deposition enhancement layer (DEL), a radiation source for generating a patterned radiation towards a surface of the DEL, and a supply pipe for flowing an organic gas near the surface of the DEL, wherein elements of the organic gas polymerize upon the patterned radiation, thereby forming a resist pattern over the DEL.

A method for manufacturing a female mold is provided in the embodiments of the disclosure, comprising: providing a substrate; forming a substrate layer of the female mold on the substrate; forming on the substrate layer of the female mold a mask layer which is adapted to exposure by an X-ray; and exposing the substrate layer of the female mold to the X-ray from a side of the mask layer away from the substrate. A direction in which the X-ray irradiates is inclined at a predetermined oblique angle to the substrate layer of the female mold, in the process of exposing to the X-ray. Besides, a female mold is also provided.