Integrated circuit lithography

1. A method of generating an imaging pattern on an integrated circuit substrate comprising:

orienting a mask having a mask pattern of a real-space representation of a Fourier-space representation of the imaging pattern in an imaging plane between a substantially coherent light source and the integrated circuit substrate;

diffracting light with the mask according to the mask pattern to produce the imaging pattern; and

exposing a photoresist on a surface of the integrated circuit substrate with the diffracted light from the mask without providing a reference beam that cooperates with the diffracted light.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting a wave propagation function in a Fourier space as a function of a selected wavelength;

computing the Fourier-space representation of the imaging pattern in real space using a computing device;

computationally dividing the Fourier-space representation of the imaging pattern by the wave propagation function to find a digital representation of the mask pattern in the Fourier-space;

computationally transforming the Fourier-space representation of the mask pattern into a representation of the mask pattern in real space; and

forming the mask having the mask pattern using the representation of the mask pattern in real space.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the substantially coherent light source includes at least one of a laser or a free electron laser.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the substantially coherent light source includes a light having a wavelength of greater than about 148 nanometers and less than about 1000 nanometers.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the substantially coherent light source includes a light having a wavelength of greater than about 1/10 (0.10) nanometers and less than about 148 nanometers.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the substantially coherent light source includes a light having a wavelength of greater than about 1/10 (0.10) nanometers and less than about 10 nanometers.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the mask includes a single crystal having the mask pattern fabricated thereon.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the substantially coherent light source includes a monochromator.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the monochromator includes at least one of a diffraction grating or a prism.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein exposing a photoresist on a surface of the integrated circuit substrate with the diffracted light from the mask without providing a reference beam that cooperates with the diffracted light includes

exposing a photoresist on a surface of the integrated circuit substrate with the diffracted light from the mask without providing a reference beam superimposed with the diffracted light.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the imaging pattern includes a plurality of diffraction particles.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the plurality of diffraction particles includes diffraction particles having nanometer scale sizes.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein a surface of the mask substantially parallels a surface of the integrated circuit substrate.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the substantially coherent light source includes light having an s-polarization.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the photoresist is substantially coincident with the imaging plane.

16. A method for designing a mask pattern for generating an imaging pattern on a photoresist responsive to substantially coherent light of a selected wavelength, comprising:

selecting a wave propagation function in a Fourier space as a function of the selected wavelength;

defining a representation of the imaging pattern in real space;

computationally transforming the representation of the imaging pattern in real space to a representation of the imaging pattern in the Fourier space using a computing device, including computationally transforming the representation of the imaging pattern in real space to the representation of the imaging pattern in Fourier space such that a light diffracted by the representation of the imaging pattern in Fourier space produces the representation of the imaging pattern in real space without providing a reference light that cooperatively interferes with the diffracted light;

computationally dividing the representation of the imaging pattern in the Fourier space by the wave propagation function to find a representation of the mask pattern in the Fourier space; and

computationally transforming the representation of the mask pattern in the Fourier space into a representation of the mask pattern in real space.

17. A method of producing a selected pattern in a photomask, comprising:

identifying an exposure wavelength;

defining a representation of the selected pattern in real space;

computationally transforming the representation of the selected pattern in real space to a representation of the selected pattern in Fourier space;

for a selected geometric configuration of the photomask relative to an exposure field, identifying a wave propagation function in the Fourier space as a function of the exposure wavelength;

computationally applying the wave propagation function to the representation of the selected pattern in the Fourier space to produce a mask pattern representation in the Fourier space; and

computationally transforming the representation of the mask pattern in the Fourier space into a representation of the mask pattern in real space, including computationally transforming the representation of the selected pattern in real space to a representation of the selected pattern in Fourier space such that a light diffracted by the representation of the selected pattern in Fourier space produces the representation of the selected pattern in real space without providing a reference light that cooperatively interferes with the diffracted light.

18. The method of claim 17 further including patterning a mask according to the representation of the mask pattern in real space.

19. A method, comprising:

computationally generating a real-space representation of a mathematical-space representation of an imaging pattern, including computationally generating the real-space representation of the mathematical-space representation such that a light diffracted by the mathematical-space representation produces the real-space representation without providing a reference light that cooperatively interferes with the diffracted light;

forming a mask pattern of the real-space representation of the mathematical-space representation of the imaging pattern on a mask;

orienting the mask having the mask pattern of the real-space representation of the mathematical-space representation of the imaging pattern in an imaging plane between a substantially coherent light source and the integrated circuit substrate;

diffracting light with the mask according to the mask pattern to produce the imaging pattern; and

exposing a photoresist on a surface of the integrated circuit substrate with the diffracted light from the mask without providing a reference beam that cooperates with the diffracted light from the mask.

20. A method for designing a mask pattern for generating an imaging pattern on a photoresist responsive to substantially coherent light of a selected wavelength, comprising:

selecting a wave propagation function in a mathematical space as a function of the selected wavelength;

defining a representation of the imaging pattern in real space;

computationally transforming the representation of the imaging pattern in real space to a representation of the imaging pattern in the mathematical space using a computing device, including computationally transforming the representation of the imaging pattern in real space to the representation of the imaging pattern in mathematical space such that a light diffracted by the representation of the imaging pattern in mathematical space produces the representation of the imaging pattern in real space without providing a reference light that cooperatively interferes with the diffracted light;

computationally dividing the representation of the imaging pattern in the mathematical space by the wave propagation function to find a representation of the mask pattern in the mathematical space; and

computationally transforming the representation of the mask pattern in the mathematical space into a representation of the mask pattern in real space.