Extreme ultraviolet mask with reduced mask shadowing effect and method of manufacturing the same

1. A method for manufacturing a reticle, comprising:

forming a reflective multilayer (ML) over a front-side surface of a mask substrate;

forming a capping layer over the reflective ML;

forming a sacrificial multilayer over the capping layer;

forming an opening in the sacrificial multilayer to expose the capping layer;

forming a first absorption layer over the sacrificial multilayer and covering the capping layer in the opening, wherein the first absorption layer is in contact with a first portion of a sidewall surface of the sacrificial multilayer in the opening and exposes a second portion of the sidewall surface of the sacrificial multilayer, wherein forming the sacrificial multilayer comprises:

forming an anti-reflection layer over the capping layer; and

forming a hard mask layer over the anti-reflection layer, wherein a sidewall of the anti-reflection layer is aligned with a sidewall of the hard mask layer in the opening, and the sidewall of the anti-reflection layer and the sidewall of the hard mask layer are continuous when the first absorption layer is formed in the opening; and

removing the first absorption layer outside the opening in the sacrificial multilayer to form a first absorption pattern on a portion of the capping layer.

2. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein forming the first absorption layer comprises:

forming a first portion of the first absorption layer in contact with a top surface of the sacrificial multilayer; and

forming a second portion of the first absorption layer in contact with a top surface of the capping layer and the sidewall surface of the sacrificial multilayer,

wherein the first portion and the second portion of the first absorption layer are formed simultaneously.

3. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein removing the first absorption layer outside the opening in the sacrificial multilayer comprises removing a portion of the first absorption layer on a top surface of the sacrificial multilayer.

4. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

removing the sacrificial multilayer to expose the capping layer after removing the first absorption layer outside the opening of the sacrificial multilayer.

5. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein forming the sacrificial multilayer further comprises:

forming a first photoresist layer over the hard mask layer.

6. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 5 , wherein forming the first opening in the sacrificial multilayer comprises:

patterning the first photoresist layer to form a first photoresist pattern on the hard mask layer;

removing a portion of the hard mask layer that is not covered by the first photoresist pattern to form a hard mask pattern on the anti-reflection layer; and

removing a portion of the anti-reflection layer that is not covered by the first photoresist pattern and the hard mask pattern to form an anti-reflection pattern on the capping layer.

7. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 5 , wherein forming the sacrificial multilayer comprises:

forming a second absorption layer over the capping layer before forming the anti-reflection layer, wherein the extinction coefficient (k) of the first absorption layer is greater than the extinction coefficient (k) of the second absorption layer.

8. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 7 , wherein forming the first opening in the sacrificial multilayer comprises:

removing a portion of the second absorption layer that is not covered by the first photoresist pattern, the hard mask pattern and the anti-reflection pattern.

9. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

removing a portion of the capping layer and a portion of the reflective ML to form a trench surrounding the absorption pattern and exposing the mask substrate; and

forming a passivation layer over the absorption pattern and along a sidewall surface and a bottom surface of the trench after forming the first absorption pattern.

10. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 9 , wherein forming the passivation layer comprises a plasma treatment process, a sol-gel process, a photochemical reaction process or an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process.

11. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

forming a conductive layer over a back-side surface of the mask substrate opposite to the front-side surface of the mask substrate.

12. A method for manufacturing a reticle, comprising:

forming a reflective multilayer (ML) over a front-side surface of a mask substrate;

forming a capping layer over the reflective ML;

depositing a first absorption layer over the capping layer;

forming an anti-reflection layer over the absorption layer;

removing portions of the first absorption layer and the anti-reflection layer to form an opening;

forming a second absorption layer over the anti-reflection layer and in the opening, wherein a first portion of the second absorption layer is over the anti-reflection layer, a second portion of the second absorption layer is in the opening, the first portion and the second portion are discontinuous, and a sidewall of the first portion aligns with a sidewall of the second portion, the second portion of the absorption layer is in contact with a sidewall of the first absorption layer, and an entire bottom surface of the anti-reflection layer is in contact with a top surface of the first absorption layer; and

removing the anti-reflection layer after forming the second absorption layer.

13. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising:

removing portions of the capping layer and the reflective multilayer to form a trench in the first absorption layer and exposing the mask substrate; and

forming a passivation layer along the sidewall surface and a bottom surface of the trench, and over the first absorption layer.

14. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 13 , wherein forming the passivation layer comprises exposing the sidewall surface and the bottom surface of the trench to a nitrogen-based gas selected from the group of N 2 , NH 3 , N 2 H 3 and NO 2 .

15. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising:

forming a conductive layer over a back-side surface of the mask substrate opposite to the front-side surface of the mask substrate.

16. A method for manufacturing a reticle, comprising:

forming a reflective multilayer (ML) over a mask substrate;

forming a capping layer over the reflective ML;

forming a first absorption layer over the capping layer;

forming an anti-reflection layer over the first absorption layer;

forming a hard mask layer over the anti-reflection layer;

forming an opening in the first absorption layer, the anti-reflection layer, and the hard mask layer, wherein the first absorption layer, the anti-reflection layer and the hard mask layer has a continuous sidewall in the opening;

forming a second absorption layer in the opening and over the hard mask layer, wherein the second absorption layer is in contact with a first portion of the continuous sidewall and exposes a second portion of the continuous sidewall; and

removing a portion of the absorption layer over the hard mask layer; and

removing the anti-reflection layer after forming the second absorption layer.

17. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 16 , wherein a first maximum width of the opening in the first absorption layer is identical to a second maximum width of the opening in the anti-reflection layer before removing the anti-reflection layer.

18. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 16 , wherein a bottom surface of the anti-reflection layer is not exposed from the first absorption layer before removing the anti-reflection layer.

19. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 16 , wherein a sidewall of the anti-reflection layer is aligned with a sidewall of the hard mask layer in the opening before removing the anti-reflection layer.

20. The method for manufacturing a reticle as claimed in claim 16 , further comprising removing the first absorption layer after removing the anti-reflection layer.