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SamsungPatent applicationChips & hardwareInterest 5/10

Samsung patents laser trick to fix alignment on chip-making masks

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Samsung has filed a patent for a method to improve the accuracy of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) masks used in making advanced computer chips. The technique involves using a laser or electron beam to create a specific, uneven deformation in the mask's reflective layer. This physical change helps correct the alignment of the circuit patterns on the mask.

Why it mattersThis is interesting to tech enthusiasts because EUV lithography is the key technology behind the most powerful modern processors, and better mask alignment means more precise chip manufacturing.

In the filing’s own words

A registration control method includes irradiating a laser beam or an E-beam onto a reflective multilayer of an EUV mask, the EUV mask having a substrate, the reflective multilayer on the substrate, and an absorption layer on the reflective multilayer, generating an asymmetrical deformation element in the reflective multilayer, and correcting the registration of a pattern formed on the absorption layer.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method of controlling registration of an extreme ultra-violet (EUV) mask, the method comprising: irradiating a laser beam or an E-beam onto a reflective multilayer of the EUV mask comprising a substrate, the reflective multilayer on the substrate, and an absorption layer on the reflective multilayer; generating an asymmetric deformation element in the reflective multilayer; and correcting the registration of a pattern formed in the absorption layer.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
EUV MASK REGISTRATION CONTROL METHOD AND EUV MASK MANUFACTURING METHOD INCLUDING THE CONTROL METHOD
Publication number
US20260299397A1
Application number
19389842
Filed
Nov 14, 2025
Published
Oct 1, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

G03F 1/24 Physics & computingG03F 1/54 Physics & computingG03F 1/86 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.