Method and electronic circuit arrangement for producing photomasks

Claim 2

An electronic circuit arrangement for producing photomasks having repetitive patterns arranged in an orthogonal mask field defined by rows and columns with predetermined spacings between said rows and columns, said orthogonal mask field being displaced by definite initial coordinate values Xi, Yi relative to a fixed point, comprising: a spacing counter (10) including input and output means, a column spacing preselector unit (11), a row spacing preselector unit (12), an Xi-coordinate preselector unit (13) and a Yi preselector unit (14), said preselector units having inputs connected to respective ones of said outputs means of the spacing counter (10), a number of AND-gates (15, 16, 17, 18) each having a number of input terminals, each of said preselector units having outputs connected to a respective one of said AND-gate input terminals for producing preselection signals, first and second control terminals (28, 29) connected to respective ones of said input terminals of said AND-gates for preparing a motion in the row direction and in the column direction, first and second bistable multivibrators (21, 22) each having a set and a reset input and two outputs, the output terminals of said bistable multivibrators being connected to respective ones of said AND-gate inputs, certain of said ANDgates being connected with their outputs to the set-input of a respective one of the bistable multivibrators; third and fourth control terminals (30, 31) connected to said reset inputs of the bistable multivibrators for resetting the bistable multivibrators to their respective starting position, a first OR-gate (19) having an output and a number of inputs corresponding to the number of said AND-gates, each of said inputs of said first OR-gate being connected to one of said AND-gate outputs, a monostable multivibrator (20) having an input and an output, said output of the first OR-gate (19) being connected to the input of said monostable multivibrator, the output of said monostable multivibrator being connected to the input means of said spacing counter (10) for resetting the spacing counter to zero count, second and third OR-gates (23, 25) for identifying column and row signals respectively, said second OR-gate (23) having an output (34) for producing a control signal and inputs the latter being connected to certain outputs of said AND-gates, said third OR-gate (25) having an output (35) for producing a further control signal and inputs the latter being connected to certain other outputs of said AND-gates, a column counter (24) and a row counter (26), said column counter having an input connected to the output (34) of the second OR-gate (23), said row counter having an input connected to the output (35) of the third OR-gate (25), said column and row counters having outputs (32, 33) for producing still further control signals.

Claim 3

An electronic circuit arrangement for producing photomasks having repetitive patterns arranged in an orthogonal mask field defined by rows and columns with predetermined spacings between said rows and columns, said orthogonal mask field being displaced by definite initial coordinate values Xi, Yi relative to a fixed point, comprising: a spacing counter (10) including input and output means, a column spacing preselector unit (11), a row spacing preselector unit (12), an Xi-coordinate preselector unit (13) and a Yi preselector unit (14), said preselector units having inputs connected to respective ones of said outputs means of the spacing counter (10), a number of AND-gates (15, 16, 17, 18) each having a number of input terminals, each of said preselector units having outputs connected to a respective one of said AND-gate input terminals for producing preselection signals, first and second control terminals (28, 29) connected to respective ones of said input terminals of said AND-gates for preparing a motion in the row direction and in the column direction, first and second bistable multivibrators (21, 22) each having a set and a reset input and two outputs, the output terminals of said bistable multivibrators being connected to respective ones of said AND-gate inputs, certain of said AND-gates being connected with their outputs to the set-input of a respective one of the bistable multivibrators; third and fourth control terminals (30, 31) connected to said reset inputs of the bistable multivibrators for resetting the bistable multivibrators to their respective starting position, a first OR-gate (19) having an output and a number of inputs corresponding to the number of said AND-gates, each of said inputs of said first OR-gate being connected to one of said AND-gate outputs, a monostable multivibrator (20) having an input and an output, said output of the first OR-gate (19) being connected to the input of said monostable multivibrator, the output of said monostable multivibrator being connected to the input means of said spacing counter (10) for resetting the spacing counter to zero count, second and third OR-gates (23, 25) for identifying column and row signals respectively, said second OR-gate (23) having an output (34) for producing a control signal and inputs the latter being connected to certain outputs of said AND-gates, said third OR-gate (25) having an output (35) for producing a further control signal and inputs the latter being connected to certain other outputs of said AND-gates, a column counter (24) and a row counter (26), said column counter having an input connected to the output (34) of the second OR-gate (23), said row counter having an input connected to the output (35) of the third OR-gate (25), said column and row counters having outputs (32, 33) for producing still further control signals.

Claim 4

An electronic circuit arrangement for producing photomasks having repetitive patterns arranged in an orthogonal mask field defined by rows and columns with predetermined spacings between said rows and columns, said orthogonal mask field being displaced by definite initial coordinate values Xi, Yi relative to a fixed point, comprising: a spacing counter (10) including input and output means, a column spacing preselector unit (11), a row spacing preselector unit (12), an Xi-coordinate preselector unit (13) and a Yi preselector unit (14), said preselector units having inputs connected to respective ones of said outputs means of the spacing counter (10), a number of AND-gates (15, 16, 17, 18) each having a number of input terminals, each of said preselector units having outputs connected to a respective one of said AND-gate input terminals for producing preselection signals, first and second control terminals (28, 29) connected to respective ones of said input terminals of said AND-gates for preparing a motion in the row direction and in the column direction, first and second bistable multivibrators (21, 22) each having a set and a reset input and two outputs, the output terminals of said bistable multivibrators being connected to respective ones of said AND-gate inputs, certain of said AND-gates being connected with their outputs to the set-input of a respective one of the bistable multivibrators; third and fourth control terminals (30, 31) connected to said reset inputs of the bistable multivibrators for resetting the bistable multivibrators to their respective starting position, a first OR-gate (19) having an output and a number of inputs corresponding to the number of said AND-gates, each of said inputs of said first OR-gate being connected to one of said AND-gate outputs, a monostable multivibrator (20) having an input and an output, said output of the first OR-gate (19) being connected to the input of said monostable multivibrator, the output of said monostable multivibrator being connected to the input means of said spacing counter (10) for resetting the spacing counter to zero count, second and third OR-gates (23, 25) for identifying column and row signals respectively, said second OR-gate (23) having an output (34) for producing a control signal and inputs the latter being connected to certain outputs of said AND-gates, said third OR-gate (25) having an output (35) for producing a further control signal and inputs the latter being connected to certain other outputs of said AND-gates, a column counter (24) and a row counter (26), said column counter having an input connected to the output (34) of the second OR-gate (23), said row counter having an input connected to the output (35) of the third OR-gate (25), said column and row counters having outputs (32, 33) for producing still further control signals.

Claim 5

The electronic circuit arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said preselector units (11, 12, 13, 14) comprise means for adjusting said preselector units to a predetermined count to produce an output signal when said count has been reached in response to the count of said spacing counter (10).

Claim 6

The electronic circuit arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said column counter (24) and said row counter (26) comprise means for resetting said column and row counter to a zero count.

Claim 7

In an optional projection method for producing photo masks having repetitive patterns arranged in an orthogonal mask field, wherein the orthogonal mask field is defined by rows and columns with predetermined spacing between the rows and columns, and wherein initial coordinates xi and yi are selectable independently with respect to the fixed coordinates of the orthogonal mask field, the improvement wherein said method comprises arranging a plurality of complex patterns on a photographic plate by a step-and-repeat process to form a single complex mask field consisting of complex patterns shifted with respect to each other, each complex pattern having dimensions greater than the dimensions of an available image field, and wherein the step of arranging each of said complex patterns on said plate comprises arranging a plurality of individual mask fields of different repeat structure on said plate by a step-and-repeat operation, each individual mask field having dimensions that are within the dimensions of said available image field.

Claim 8

In an optional projection method for producing photo masks having repetitive patterns arranged in an orthogonal mask field, wherein the orthogonal mask field is defined by rows and columns with predetermined spacing between the rows and columns, and wherein initial coordinates xi and yi are selectable independently with respect to the fixed coordinates of the orthogonal mask field, the improvement wherein said method comprises arranging a plurality of complex patterns on a photographic plate by a step-and-repeat process to form a single complex mask field consisting of complex patterns shifted with respect to each other, each complex pattern having dimensions greater than the dimensions of an available image field, and wherein the step of arranging each of said complex patterns on said plate comprises arranging a plurality of individual mask fields of different repeat structure on said plate by a step-and-repeat operation, each individual mask field having dimensions that are within the dimensions of said available image field.

Claim 9

In an optical projection method for producing photo masks having repetitive patterns arranged in an orthogonal mask field, wherein the orthogonal mask field is defined by rows and columns with predetermined spacing between the rows and columns, wherein initial coordinates xi and yi are selectable independently with respect to the fixed coordinates of the orthogonal mask field, wherein the complex patterns have any desired size larger than that of an available image field and include individual patterns, and wherein the individual patterns are complete as to their functional content and have outer dimensions smaller than said available image field; the improvement wherein said Method comprises arranging a plurality of mask fields with different repeat patterns on a photographic plate, the mask fields being shifted with respect to each other, and assembling the shifted mask fields together to form a single complex mask field consisting of complex patterns, said step of assembling of said complete individual patterns into said complex patterns comprising sequentially assembling said complete individual patterns in a plurality of step-and-repeat operations, and preselecting different initial coordinates xi and yi for each first repetitive pattern of each step-and-repeat operation.

Claim 10

In an optical projection method for producing photo masks having repetitive patterns arranged in an orthogonal mask field, wherein the orthogonal mask field is defined by rows and columns with predetermined spacing between the rows and columns, wherein initial coordinates xi and yi are selectable independently with respect to the fixed coordinates of the orthogonal mask field, wherein the complex patterns have any desired size larger than that of an available image field and include individual patterns, and wherein the individual patterns are complete as to their functional content and have outer dimensions smaller than said available image field; the improvement wherein said Method comprises arranging a plurality of mask fields with different repeat patterns on a photographic plate, the mask fields being shifted with respect to each other, and assembling the shifted mask fields together to form a single complex mask field consisting of complex patterns, said step of assembling of said complete individual patterns into said complex patterns comprising sequentially assembling said complete individual patterns in a plurality of step-and-repeat operations, and preselecting different initial coordinates xi and yi for each first repetitive pattern of each step-and-repeat operation.