Patent ID: 7656505

Claim:
An exposure apparatus for printing a wafer, comprising: a lens; a reticle that includes a pattern; and a reticle blind, wherein the reticle blind is adapted to block a first portion of light that is passed through the exposure apparatus, wherein a transparent portion of the reticle is adapted to transmit a remaining portion of the light, wherein the lens is adapted to focus the remaining portion of the light onto the wafer such that an image of a portion of the pattern is printed as a design within a peripheral portion of the wafer, wherein the peripheral portion of the wafer is between an outer boundary of an active portion of the wafer and an outer boundary of the wafer, wherein the printed design is a function of where the reticle blind is positioned relative to the pattern, wherein the pattern includes a plurality of pattern elements such that adjacent pattern elements are separated by a spacing, wherein the spacing is about equal to a design tolerance, wherein the design tolerance is a sum of a first design tolerance and a second design tolerance, wherein the first design tolerance is based on how accurately the reticle blind can be positioned within the exposure apparatus, and wherein the second design tolerance is based on how sharply an edge of the reticle blind can be focused onto the wafer by the lens of the exposure apparatus.