Patent ID: 7604927

Claim:
A method of patterning an integrated circuit device, the method comprising: providing an integrated circuit substrate having a photosensitive layer thereon; projecting patterning radiation through a photomask to the photosensitive layer on the integrated circuit substrate, the photomask including, a transparent substrate having first and second opposing surfaces, a pattern of radiation blocking regions on at least one of the first and/or second surfaces of the transparent substrate, the pattern of radiation blocking regions defining a pattern to be transferred to the integrated circuit device; and an array of shadowing elements within the transparent substrate between the first and second opposing surfaces wherein a shadowing element of the array has a light transmittance characteristic different than that of an adjacent portion of the transparent substrate and wherein a transmittance of the patterning radiation through a portion of the transparent substrate including the array of shadowing elements is greater than approximately 20%.