1. A method of lithography for enhancing uniformity of critical dimensions of features patterned onto a workpiece using a multipass writing strategy, the method comprising the actions of:
coating said workpiece with a coating sensitive to an energy beam,
providing an energy beam source,
determining an individual dose for each pass so that each pass will affect said coating essentially equal, thereby enhancing said uniformity of critical dimension,
exposing said coating in said multipass writing strategy by using said individual dose for each pass,
developing said coating.
2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the action of:
creating said features by a spatial light modulator.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said energy beam source is a electromagnetic radiation source emitting pulsed radiation in the range of EUV-DUV.
4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of:
creating said features by a modulator and deflector arrangement capable of deflecting and setting the intensity of said radiation beam.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the action of:
creating said features by a diffraction grating.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said method comprises 2 exposure passes, of which a first exposure pass has a dose less than half of an exposure threshold and a second exposure pass has a dose greater than half of the exposure threshold.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said method comprises 3 exposure passes or more, of which said dose is increased linearly for every following pass.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said method comprises 3 exposure passes or more, of which said dose is increased exponentially for every following pass.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said method comprises 3 exposure passes or more, of which said dose is increased logarithmically for every following pass.
10. The method according to any one of claims 1\u20139, wherein each portion of said workpiece is patterned with a first exposure pass before exposing a next exposure pass.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said portions are exposed in the same direction.
12. The method according to claim 10, wherein said portions are exposed in alternating directions.
13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dose of a last exposure at a location on the workpiece is within the range of 40% to 60% higher than a first exposure at the location on the workpiece.
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dose of a last exposure at a location on the workpiece is within the range of 45% to 55% higher than a the first exposure at the location on the workpiece.
15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the coating sensitive to electromagnetic radiation is a chemically amplified resist (CAR).
16. The method according to claim 1, wherein said workpiece is a mask substrate.
17. The method according to claim 13, wherein four writing passes are used.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A radiographic silver halide film that comprises a support having first and second major surfaces and that is capable of transmitting X-radiation,
said radiographic silver halide film having disposed on said first major support surface, one or more hydrophilic colloid layers including at least one cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer, and having disposed on said second major support surface, one or more hydrophilic colloid layers including at least one tabular grain silver halide emulsion layer,
wherein said film can be exposed to provide a black-and-white image having a d(\u03b3)d(log E) value greater than 5.
2. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 1 wherein said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer comprises:
1) a combination of first and second spectral sensitizing dyes that provides a combined maximum J-aggregate absorption on said cubic silver halide grains of from about 540 to about 560 nm, and
wherein said first spectral sensitizing dye is an anionic benzimidazole-benzoxazole carbocyanine, said second spectral sensitizing dye is an anionic oxycarbocyanine, and said first and second spectral sensitizing dyes are present in a molar ratio of from about 0.25:1 to about 4:1,
2) a mixture of a first hydrophilic binder that is gelatin or a gelatin derivative and a second hydrophilic binder other than gelatin or a gelatin derivative, wherein the weight ratio of said first hydrophilic binder to said second hydrophilic binder is from about 2:1 to about 5:1, and the level of hardener in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer is from about 0.4 to about 1.5 weight % based on the total weight of said first hydrophilic binder in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer,
3) cubic silver halide grains comprising from about 1 to about 20 mol % chloride and from about 0.25 to about 1.5 mol % iodide, both based on total silver in said cubic grain emulsion layer, which cubic silver halide grains have an average ECD of from about 0.65 to about 0.8 \u03bcm, and
4) cubic silver halide grains that are doped with a hexacoordination complex compound within part or all of 95% of the innermost volume from the center of said cubic silver halide grains.
3. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said first spectral sensitizing dye is represented by the following Structure I:
wherein Z1 and Z2 represent the carbon atoms necessary to form a substituted or unsubstituted benzene or naphthalene ring, R1, R2, and R3 are independently substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkoxy, aryl, or alkenyl groups, X1\u2212 is an anion, and n is 1 or 2, and said second spectral sensitizing dye is represented by the following Structure II:
wherein Z1 and Z2 represent the carbon atoms necessary to form a substituted or unsubstituted benzene or naphthalene ring, R4 and R5 are independently substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, alkoxy, aryl, or alkenyl groups, R6 is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl or phenyl group, X2\u2212 is an anion, and n is 1 or 2.
4. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein the total amount of said combination of said first and second spectral sensitizing dyes is from about 0.25 to about 0.75 molmole of silver, and said first and second spectral sensitizing dyes are present in a molar ratio of from about 0.5:1 to about 1.5:1.
5. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said combination of said first and second spectral sensitizing dyes provide a combined J-aggregate absorption of from about 545 to about 555 nm when said dyes are absorbed on said cubic silver halide grains.
6. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said first spectral sensitizing dye is selected from the following Compounds A-1 to A-7, and the second spectral sensitizing dye is selected from the following Compounds B-1 to B-5:
7. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said hexacoordination complex compound is present in an amount of from about 1\xd710\u22126 to about 5\xd710\u22124 mole per mole of silver in the silver halide emulsion layer in which it is present.
8. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said hexacoordination complex compound is present within the innermost 90% of the volume of said cubic silver halide grains.
9. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said hexacoordination complex compound is present within 75 to 80% of the innermost volume from the center of said cubic silver halide grains.
10. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said hexacoordination complex compound is represented by the following Structure I:
ML6n
wherein M is a Group 8 polyvalent transition metal ion, L represents six coordination complex ligands that can be the same or different provided that at least four of the ligands are anionic ligands and at least one of said ligands is more electronegative than any halide ligand, and n is \u22122, \u22123, or \u22124.
11. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 10 wherein M is Fe+2, Ru+2, Os+2, Co+3, Rh+3, Ir+3,Pd+3, or Pt+4.
12. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 10 wherein M is Ru+2, and at least three of L are cyanide ions.
13. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said cubic silver halide grains are composed of from about 10 to about 20 mol % chloride, based on total silver in the emulsion layer.
14. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said cubic silver halide grains are composed of from about 0.5 to about 1 mol % iodide, based on total silver in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer.
15. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein the weight ratio of said first hydrophilic binder to said second hydrophilic binder is from about 2.5:1 to about 3.5:1, and the level of said hardener is from about 0.5 to about 1.5 weight % based on the total weight of said first hydrophilic binder in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer.
16. The radiographic silver halide film of claim 2 wherein said second hydrophilic binder is a dextran or polyacrylamide.
17. A radiographic silver halide film having a photographic speed of at least 100 and comprising a transparent film support having first and second major surfaces and that is capable of transmitting X-radiation,
said radiographic silver halide film having disposed on said first major support surface, one or more hydrophilic colloid layers including at least one silver halide emulsion layer, and having disposed on said second major support surface, one or more hydrophilic colloid layers including at least one tabular grain silver halide emulsion layer,
said film also comprising a protective overcoat layer disposed on both sides of said support,
wherein said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer comprises:
1) a combination of first and second spectral sensitizing dyes that provides a combined maximum J-aggregate absorption of from about 545 to about 555 nm when said dyes are absorbed on the surface of said cubic silver halide grains,
wherein said first spectral sensitizing dye is the following Dye A-2, and wherein said second spectral sensitizing dye is following Dye B-1, said first and second spectral sensitizing dyes being present in a molar ratio of from about 0.5:1 to about 1.5:1, and the total spectral sensitizing dyes in said film is from about 0.25 to about 0.75 mgmole of silver,
2) a mixture of a first hydrophilic binder that is gelatin or a gelatin derivative and a second hydrophilic binder that is a dextran or polyacrylamide, wherein the weight ratio of said first hydrophilic binder to said second hydrophilic binder is from about 2.5:1 to about 3.5:1 and the level of hardener in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion is from about 0.5 to about 1.5 weight % based on the total weight of said first hydrophilic binder in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer,
3) cubic silver halide grains comprising from about 10 to about 20 mol % chloride and from about 0.5 to about 1 mol % iodide, both based on total silver in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer, which cubic silver halide grains have an average ECD of from about 0.72 to about 0.76 \u03bcm, and
4) cubic silver halide grains that are doped with a hexacoordination complex compound within 75 to 80% of the innermost volume from the center of said cubic silver halide grains, wherein said hexacoordination complex compound is represented by the following Structure I:
ML6n
wherein M is Fe+2,Ru+2,Os+2,Co+3,Rh+3, Ir+3, Pd+3, or Pt+4, L represents six coordination complex ligands that can be the same or different provided that at least three of the ligands are cyanide ions, and n is \u22122, \u22123, or \u22124.
18. A radiographic imaging assembly comprising:
A) the radiographic silver halide film of claim 1, and
B) a fluorescent intensifying screen that comprises an inorganic phosphor capable of absorbing X-rays and emitting electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength greater than 300 nm.
19. A radiographic imaging assembly comprising:
A) the radiographic silver halide film of claim 2, and
B) a fluorescent intensifying screen that comprises an inorganic phosphor capable of absorbing X-rays and emitting electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength greater than 300 nm.
20. The radiographic imaging assembly of claim 19 comprising a single fluorescent intensifying screen.
21. The radiographic imaging assembly of claim 19 wherein said inorganic phosphor is calcium tungstate, activated or unactivated lithium stannates, niobium andor rare earth activated or unactivated yttrium, lutetium, or gadolinium tantalates, rare earth-activated or unactivated middle chalcogen phosphors such as rare earth oxychalcogenides and oxyhalides, or terbium-activated or unactivated lanthanum or lutetium middle chalcogen phosphor.
22. The radiographic imaging assembly of claim 19 wherein said inorganic phosphor is a rare earth oxychalcogenide and oxyhalide phosphor that is represented by the following formula (1):
M\u2032(w-n)M\u2033nOwX\u2032\u2003\u2003(1)
wherein M\u2032 is at least one of the metals yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La), gadolinium (Gd), or lutetium (Lu), M\u2033 is at least one of the rare earth metals, preferably dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), europium (Eu), holmium (Ho), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), samarium (Sm), tantalum (Ta), terbium (Th), thulium (Tm), or ytterbium (Yb), X\u2032 is a middle chalcogen (S, Se, or Te) or halogen, n is 0.002 to 0.2, and w is 1 when X\u2032 is halogen or 2 when X\u2032 is a middle chalcogen.
23. The radiographic imaging assembly of claim 22 wherein said inorganic phosphor is a lanthanum oxybromides, or terbium-activated or thulium-activated gadolinium oxides.
24. The radiographic imaging assembly of claim 19 wherein said inorganic phosphor is an alkaline earth metal phosphor that is the product of firing starting materials comprising optional oxide and a combination of species characterized by the following formula (2):
MFX1-zIzuMaXa:yA:eQ:tD\u2003\u2003(2)
wherein \u201cM\u201d is magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), or barium (Ba), \u201cF\u201d is fluoride, \u201cX\u201d is chloride (Cl) or bromide (Br), \u201cI\u201d is iodide, Ma is sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), or cesium (Cs), Xa is fluoride (F), chloride (Cl), bromide (Br), or iodide (I), \u201cA\u201d is europium (Eu), cerium (Ce), samarium (Sm), or terbium (Th), \u201cQ\u201d is BeO, MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO, ZnO, Al2O3, La2O3, In2O3, SiO2, TiO2, ZrO2, GeO2, SnO2, Nb2O5, Ta2O5, or ThO2, \u201cD\u201d is vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), or nickel (Ni), \u201cz\u201d is 0 to 1, \u201cu\u201d is from 0 to 1, \u201cy\u201d is from 1\xd710\u22124 to 0.1, \u201ce\u201d is form 0 to 1, and \u201ct\u201d is from 0 to 0.01.
25. The radiographic imaging assembly of claim 19 wherein said inorganic phosphor is present as particles wherein at least 50% of the particles have a size of less than 3 \u03bcm and at least 85% of the particles have a size of less than 5.5 \u03bcm, and the coverage of said inorganic phosphor in said phosphor layer is from about 260 to about 380 gm2.
26. A method of providing a black-and-white image comprising exposing the radiographic imaging assembly of claim 19 to X-radiation generated using rhodium or tungsten anodes in an X-radiation generating device, and processing said radiographic silver halide film, sequentially, with a black-and-white developing composition and a fixing composition, said processing being carried out within 90 seconds, dry-to-dry.
27. The method of claim 26 being carried out for 60 seconds or less, dry-to-dry.
28. A method of imaging for mammography comprising exposing a patient to X-radiation at 28 or less kVp using an X-radiation generating device comprising rhodium or tungsten anodes, and providing a black-and-white image of said exposed patient using an imaging assembly comprising:
A) a radiographic silver halide film that has a photographic speed of at least 100 and comprises a support having first and second major surfaces and that is capable of transmitting X-radiation,
said radiographic silver halide film having disposed on said first major support surface, one or more hydrophilic colloid layers including at least one cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer, and having disposed on said second major support surface, one or more hydrophilic colloid layers including at least one tabular grain silver halide emulsion layer,
wherein said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer comprises:
1) a combination of first and second spectral sensitizing dyes that provides a combined maximum J-aggregate absorption on said cubic silver halide grains of from about 540 to about 560 nm, and
wherein said first spectral sensitizing dye is an anionic benzimidazole-benzoxazole carbocyanine, said second spectral sensitizing dye is an anionic oxycarbocyanine, and said first and second spectral sensitizing dyes are present in a molar ratio of from about 0.25:1 to about 4:1,
2) a mixture of a first hydrophilic binder that is gelatin or a gelatin derivative and a second hydrophilic binder other than gelatin or a gelatin derivative, wherein the weight ratio of said first hydrophilic binder to said second hydrophilic binder is from about 2:1 to about 5:1, and the level of hardener in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer is from about 0.4 to about 1.5 weight % based on the total weight of said first hydrophilic binder in said cubic grain silver halide emulsion layer,
3) cubic silver halide grains comprising from about 1 to about 20 mol % chloride and from about 0.25 to about 1.5 mol % iodide, both based on total silver in said cubic grain emulsion layer, which cubic silver halide grains have an average ECD of from about 0.65 to about 0.8 \u03bcm, and
4) cubic silver halide grains that are doped with a hexacoordination complex compound within part or all of 95% of the innermost volume from the center of said cubic silver halide grains, and
B) a fluorescent intensifying screen that comprises an inorganic phosphor capable of absorbing X-rays and emitting electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength greater than 300 nm.