Mechanisms for making and inspecting reticles
First Claim
1. A circuit design for use with electronic design automation (EDA) tools in designing integrated circuits, the circuit design being stored on a computer readable medium and containing an electronic representation of a layout pattern for at least one layer of the circuit design on an integrated circuit, the layout pattern comprising a first layout region having a particular flag associated therewith and a second layout region that does not have the particular flag associated therewith, the first layout region corresponding to a first procedure region on a reticle or an integrated circuit and the second layout region corresponding to a second procedure region on the reticle or the integrated circuit, the particular flag of the first layout region indicating that the corresponding first procedure region of the reticle or the integrated circuit is subject to a first inspection or fabrication procedure that is different than a second inspection or fabrication procedure that is to be performed on the second procedure region on the reticle or the integrated circuit, wherein the particular flag of the first layout region is readable by an inspection or a fabrication system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A reusable circuit design for use with electronic design automation EDA tools in designing integrated circuits is disclosed, as well as reticle inspection and fabrication methods that are based on such reusable circuit design. The reusable circuit design is stored on a computer readable medium and contains an electronic representation of a layout pattern for at least one layer of the circuit design on an integrated circuit. The layout pattern includes a flagged critical region which corresponds to a critical region on a reticle or integrated circuit that is susceptible to special inspection or fabrication procedures. In one aspect of the reusable circuit design, the special analysis is performed during one from a group consisting of reticle inspection, reticle production, integrated circuit fabrication, and fabricated integrated circuit inspection.
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Citations
38 Claims
- 1. A circuit design for use with electronic design automation (EDA) tools in designing integrated circuits, the circuit design being stored on a computer readable medium and containing an electronic representation of a layout pattern for at least one layer of the circuit design on an integrated circuit, the layout pattern comprising a first layout region having a particular flag associated therewith and a second layout region that does not have the particular flag associated therewith, the first layout region corresponding to a first procedure region on a reticle or an integrated circuit and the second layout region corresponding to a second procedure region on the reticle or the integrated circuit, the particular flag of the first layout region indicating that the corresponding first procedure region of the reticle or the integrated circuit is subject to a first inspection or fabrication procedure that is different than a second inspection or fabrication procedure that is to be performed on the second procedure region on the reticle or the integrated circuit, wherein the particular flag of the first layout region is readable by an inspection or a fabrication system.
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15. A method of producing a reticle for an integrated circuit device, comprising:
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providing an electronic representation of a layout pattern for the reticle to a reticle producing system, the electronic representation having a flagged critical region that indicates to the reticle producing system that an associated critical region of the reticle requires a special production technique; and
producing a reticle based on the electronic representation, wherein the critical region of the reticle associated with the flagged critical region of the electronic representation is produced via the special production technique and other regions of the reticle are produced via a normal production technique, wherein the special production technique differs from the normal production technique. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for producing a reticle for an integrated circuit device, the computer readable medium comprising:
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computer readable code for providing an electronic representation to a reticle producing system, the electronic representation having a flagged critical region that indicates to the reticle producing system that an associated critical region of the reticle requires a special production technique;
computer readable code for producing a reticle based on the electronic representation, wherein the critical region of the reticle associated with the flagged critical region of the electronic representation is produced via the special production technique and other regions of the reticle are produced via a normal production technique, wherein the special production technique differs from the normal production technique; and
a computer readable medium for storing the computer readable codes.
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22. A method of inspecting a reticle for defining a circuit layer pattern, the reticle having a special analysis region associated with a critical region and a normal analysis region associated with a normal region, the method comprising:
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providing an electronic representation of the circuit layer pattern, the representation having a normal region of the pattern and a flagged critical region of the pattern;
providing a test reticle image of the reticle;
providing a baseline representation containing an expected pattern of the test reticle image; and
comparing the test reticle image to the baseline representation such that (i) regions of the test reticle image and the baseline representation corresponding to the normal analysis region of the reticle are compared via a normal analysis and (ii) regions of the test reticle image and the baseline representation corresponding to the special analysis region of the reticle are compared via a special analysis, wherein the special analysis differs from the normal analysis. - View Dependent Claims (23, 36, 37)
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24. A method as recited in 22, wherein the special analysis is performed at a more stringent threshold than the normal analysis.
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25. A method as recited in 24, wherein the normal analysis compares edge positions of corresponding features in the test reticle image and the baseline representation using a first threshold and the special analysis compares edge positions of corresponding features in the test reticle image and the baseline representation using a second threshold.
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26. A method as recited in 22, wherein the special analysis compares line widths of corresponding features in the test reticle image and the baseline representation.
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27. A method as recited in 26, wherein the corresponding features are gate electrodes.
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28. A method as recited in 22, wherein the special analysis compares areas of corresponding features in the test reticle image and the baseline representation.
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29. A method as recited in 28, wherein the corresponding features are vias or contact holes.
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30. A method as recited in 22, the comparison comprising
determining whether a special parameter of the special analysis region is within a first threshold of an associated parameter of the baseline special analysis region.
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38. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for inspecting a reticle for defining a circuit layer pattern, the reticle having a special analysis region associated with a critical region and a normal analysis region associated with a normal region, the computer readable medium comprising:
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computer readable code for providing an electronic representation of the circuit layer pattern, the representation having a normal region of the pattern and a flagged critical region of the pattern;
computer readable code for providing a test reticle image of the reticle;
computer readable code for providing a baseline representation containing an expected pattern of the test reticle image;
computer readable code for comparing the test reticle image to the baseline representation such that (i) regions of the test reticle image and the baseline representation corresponding to the normal analysis region of the reticle are compared via a normal analysis and (ii) regions of the test reticle image and the baseline representation corresponding to the special analysis region of the reticle are compared via a special analysis, wherein the special analysis differs from the normal analysis; and
a computer readable medium for storing the computer readable codes.
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Specification