Optical proximity correction
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of optical proximity correction, comprising the actions of:
- modeling the transfer of a design pattern to a reticle, to thereby produce a reticle pattern image;
modeling the transfer of said reticle pattern image to a wafer, to thereby produce a wafer pattern image;
generating a comparison of said wafer pattern image and a reference pattern; and
modifying said design pattern if said step of generating a comparison fails to satisfy a set of design rules.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improvement to the optical proximity correction process used in photolithography. Mask pattern modeling is added to the optical proximity correction process, producing patterns that are optimized for both reticle manufacture and wafer fabrication. Pattern validation is improved by applying a mask pattern model and a wafer pattern model to the validation process. Reticle inspection is improved by adding a mask inspection tool model that comprehends the limitations of the inspection tool.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A method of optical proximity correction, comprising the actions of:
-
modeling the transfer of a design pattern to a reticle, to thereby produce a reticle pattern image;
modeling the transfer of said reticle pattern image to a wafer, to thereby produce a wafer pattern image;
generating a comparison of said wafer pattern image and a reference pattern; and
modifying said design pattern if said step of generating a comparison fails to satisfy a set of design rules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A method of optical proximity correction, comprising the actions of:
-
producing a wafer pattern image which accounts for changes in a design pattern caused during transfer to a reticle and transfer to a wafer; and
generating a comparison of said wafer pattern image and a reference pattern. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
-
-
8. A method of validating a modified design pattern in optical proximity correction, comprising the actions of:
-
modeling the transfer of said modified design pattern to a reticle, to thereby produce a reticle pattern image;
modeling the transfer of said reticle pattern image to a wafer, to thereby produce a wafer pattern image; and
generating a comparison of said wafer pattern image and a reference pattern. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
13. A method of validating a modified design pattern in optical proximity correction, comprising the actions of:
-
producing a wafer pattern image which accounts for changes to said modified design pattern caused by transfer to a reticle and to a wafer; and
generating a comparison of said wafer pattern image and a reference pattern.
-
-
16. A method of inspecting a reticle in optical proximity correction, comprising the actions of:
-
modeling the transfer of a design pattern to a reticle, to thereby produce a reticle pattern image;
modeling how said reticle pattern image will be resolved by a mask inspection tool, to thereby produce a reticle inspection image;
generating a comparison of said reticle and said reticle inspection image.
-
-
21. A method of correcting design patterns for wafer fabrication, comprising the actions of:
-
correcting for changes in said design pattern occurring during transfer of the pattern to the reticle; and
correcting for changes in said design pattern occurring during transfer of the pattern to the wafer.
-
-
22. A method of image processing, comprising the actions of:
correcting for changes introduced in an image during transfer of that image by characterizing the behavior of the transfer system using a model.
Specification