Method of Forming Layout Design
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:
- forming a plurality of gate structures, wherein at least one segment of the plurality of gate structures corresponds to a transistor to be subject to an electrical characteristic tuning process, the plurality of gate structures extending along a first direction and having a predetermined pitch measurable along a second direction, the predetermined pitch being smaller than a spatial resolution of a lithographic technology used to form the plurality of gate structures;
depositing an insulating layer over the plurality of gate structures; and
forming one or more openings in the insulating layer, the one or more openings having a width measurable along the second direction, the width of the respective openings being less than twice the predetermined pitch.
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Abstract
A method of forming a layout design for fabricating an integrated circuit (IC) is disclosed. The method includes identifying one or more areas in the layout design occupied by one or more segments of a plurality of gate structure layout patterns of the layout design; and generating a set of layout patterns overlapping the identified one or more areas. The plurality of gate structure layout patterns has a predetermined pitch smaller than a spatial resolution of a predetermined lithographic technology. A first layout pattern of the set of layout patterns has a width less than twice the predetermined pitch.
13 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:
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forming a plurality of gate structures, wherein at least one segment of the plurality of gate structures corresponds to a transistor to be subject to an electrical characteristic tuning process, the plurality of gate structures extending along a first direction and having a predetermined pitch measurable along a second direction, the predetermined pitch being smaller than a spatial resolution of a lithographic technology used to form the plurality of gate structures; depositing an insulating layer over the plurality of gate structures; and forming one or more openings in the insulating layer, the one or more openings having a width measurable along the second direction, the width of the respective openings being less than twice the predetermined pitch. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit (IC), the method comprising:
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forming a plurality of transistors, the plurality of transistors comprising a plurality of source regions, a plurality of drain regions, and a plurality of gate structures overlying respective source regions and drain regions, the plurality of gate structures each extending along a first direction and having a predetermined pitch measurable along a second direction, the predetermined pitch being smaller than a spatial resolution of a lithographic technology used to form the plurality of gate structures; selecting a subset of the plurality of transistors for a tuning process; forming a patterned layer on the plurality of transistors, the patterned layer including a repeating pattern of features, the width of the features being less than twice the predetermined pitch; and performing the tuning process on the subset of transistors. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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using a multiple patterning process, forming a plurality of gate structures, the plurality of gate structures extending along a first direction and having a predetermined pitch measurable along a second direction; depositing an insulating layer over the plurality of gate structures; forming one or more openings in the insulating layer, the one or more openings having a width measurable along the second direction, the width of the respective openings being less than twice the predetermined pitch; and performing an electrical characteristic tuning process on transistor structures exposed by the one or more openings. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification