Pattern Selection for Full-Chip Source and Mask Optimization
First Claim
1. A method for optimizing a lithographic process for imaging a portion of a design onto a substrate, the method comprising:
- selecting a subset of patterns from the portion of the design;
optimizing an illumination source for the lithographic process for imaging the selected subset of patterns; and
using the optimized illumination source for optimizing the portion of the design for being imaged in the lithographic process.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to lithographic apparatuses and processes, and more particularly to tools for optimizing illumination sources and masks for use in lithographic apparatuses and processes. According to certain aspects, the present invention enables full chip pattern coverage while lowering the computation cost by intelligently selecting a small set of critical design patterns from the full set of clips to be used in source and mask optimization. Optimization is performed only on these selected patterns to obtain an optimized source. The optimized source is then used to optimize the mask (e.g. using OPC and manufacturability verification) for the full chip, and the process window performance results are compared. If the results are comparable to conventional full-chip SMO, the process ends, otherwise various methods are provided for iteratively converging on the successful result.
75 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for optimizing a lithographic process for imaging a portion of a design onto a substrate, the method comprising:
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selecting a subset of patterns from the portion of the design; optimizing an illumination source for the lithographic process for imaging the selected subset of patterns; and using the optimized illumination source for optimizing the portion of the design for being imaged in the lithographic process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for optimizing a lithographic process for imaging a portion of a design onto a wafer, the method comprising:
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identifying a full set of clips from the design; selecting a subset of clips from the full set of clips; optimizing an illumination source for the lithographic process for imaging the selected subset of clips; and using the optimized illumination source for optimizing the full set of clips for being imaged in the lithographic process. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification