PATTERN TRANSFER MASK, FOCUS ERROR MEASUREMENT METHOD AND APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF FABRICATING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE

摘要

A reticle comprises a main pattern (11) and a monitor pattern (12) each having a different thickness of a light shielding film (4), the light shielding film (4) of the monitor pattern (12) being formed thicker than that of the main pattern (11). Therefore, in a CD-focus curve, the focus center at which a focus value is the optimal value is shifted from the extremal value, so that positive and negative directions of the focus are specified by monitoring the amount of shift using this shifted focus center. This configuration provides simple and highly accurate measurements of a focus error amount and positive and negative directions of the focus. Ultimately, the measured focus error information is fed back to the next lot and is fed forward to the next process to fabricate the semiconductor device stably.