A compound semiconductor solar cell and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The method for fabricating a compound semiconductor solar cell comprises forming a first mask layer on a front surface of a compound semiconductor layer of a second region which is a region other than a first region where the front electrode is to be formed; forming a seed metal layer on the front surface of the compound semiconductor layer of the first region and on the first mask layer of the second region; removing the seed metal layer over the first mask layer and the first mask layer; removing a part of the compound semiconductor layer of the second region from the front surface of the compound semiconductor layer by using the seed metal layer of the first region as a mask; forming a second mask layer on the compound semiconductor layer of the second region; forming an electrode metal layer on the seed metal layer not covered by the second mask layer; and removing the second mask layer.

A mask apparatus for x-ray lithography and metrology where the x-ray absorber material is embedded in diamond and then covered with a thermally conductive material to provide requisite thermal conductivity when irradiated with x-rays. The apparatus then includes a hollow holder that is thermally interfaced with the mask and may also include means for external thermal control. The mask apparatus allows for transmission of x-rays from a lithography beam as well as metrology beams of other wavelengths including UV, IR, visible, and others.

A compound semiconductor solar cell and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The method for fabricating a compound semiconductor solar cell comprises forming a first mask layer on a front surface of a compound semiconductor layer of a second region which is a region other than a first region where the front electrode is to be formed; forming a seed metal layer on the front surface of the compound semiconductor layer of the first region and on the first mask layer of the second region; removing the seed metal layer over the first mask layer and the first mask layer; removing a part of the compound semiconductor layer of the second region from the front surface of the compound semiconductor layer by using the seed metal layer of the first region as a mask; forming a second mask layer on the compound semiconductor layer of the second region; forming an electrode metal layer on the seed metal layer not covered by the second mask layer; and removing the second mask layer.

A resist film structure is provided, which allows a resist layer to have improved photosensitivity to EUV or electron beams without changing the photosensitivity of the resist material itself. A metal layer 1 with a thickness as small as a nanometer level is provided on a resist polymer layer 2 formed on a substrate 3. When the resist layer in this structure is exposed to light, the metal layer 1 produces a surface plasmon effect to enhance the irradiation to the resist film, so that the photosensitivity of the resist film is improved.

A process for fabricating an integrated circuit is provided. The process includes providing a substrate and forming a hard mask on the substrate. The hard mask may be formed by atomic-layer deposition (ALD) or molecular-layer deposition (MLD). The process also includes disposing an exposure mask over the hard mask and exposing the exposure mask to a patterning particle to pattern a gap in the hard mask. The patterning particle may be, for example, a photon or a charged particle.

The present invention is a polymer having a repeating unit represented by the following formula (B1).

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In the formula, R.sub.1 represents a single bond or a divalent organic group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, R.sub.2 represents a divalent organic group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, R.sub.3 represents a divalent organic group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms and optionally having an oxygen atom, and W.sub.1 represents a fluorine-containing group. The polymer can provide a composition for forming an organic film that has excellent film formability (in-plane uniformity) on a substrate (a wafer) and filling properties and excellent hump-reducing properties in an EBR process, and that can form an organic film having excellent process margin when used as an organic film for a multilayer resist.