System and method for lithography simulation
First Claim
1. A method to evaluate a design pattern on a photolithographic mask to a change in at least one process parameter of a photolithographic process, wherein the photolithographic process uses photolithographic equipment, the method comprising:
- generating a first simulated image of a lithographic design on a wafer using (1) a pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask and (2) a first relationship representing an imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process, wherein the pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask is generated using an image of the photolithographic mask; and
generating a second simulated image of the lithographic design on a wafer using (1) the pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask and (2) a second relationship representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process, wherein a difference between (i) the first relationship representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process and (ii) the second relationship representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process includes the change in the at least one process parameter of the photolithographic process; and
evaluating the design pattern on a photolithographic mask to the change in at least one process parameter of a photolithographic process by;
comparing the first simulated image of the lithographic design on a wafer and a design target on the wafer which corresponds to the design pattern on the photolithographic mask; and
comparing the second simulated image of the lithographic design on a wafer and the design target on the wafer.
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Abstract
There are many inventions described and illustrated herein. In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a technique of, and system for simulating, verifying, inspecting, characterizing, determining and/or evaluating the lithographic designs, techniques and/or systems, and/or individual functions performed thereby or components used therein. In one embodiment, the present invention is a system and method that accelerates lithography simulation, inspection, characterization and/or evaluation of the optical characteristics and/or properties, as well as the effects and/or interactions of lithographic systems and processing techniques. In this regard, in one embodiment, the present invention employs a lithography simulation system architecture, including application-specific hardware accelerators, and a processing technique to accelerate and facilitate verification, characterization and/or inspection of a mask design, for example, RET design, including detailed simulation and characterization of the entire lithography process to verify that the design achieves and/or provides the desired results on final wafer pattern. The system includes: (1) general purpose-type computing device(s) to perform the case-based logic having branches and inter-dependency in the data handling and (2) accelerator subsystems to perform a majority of the computation intensive tasks.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method to evaluate a design pattern on a photolithographic mask to a change in at least one process parameter of a photolithographic process, wherein the photolithographic process uses photolithographic equipment, the method comprising:
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generating a first simulated image of a lithographic design on a wafer using (1) a pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask and (2) a first relationship representing an imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process, wherein the pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask is generated using an image of the photolithographic mask; and generating a second simulated image of the lithographic design on a wafer using (1) the pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask and (2) a second relationship representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process, wherein a difference between (i) the first relationship representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process and (ii) the second relationship representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process includes the change in the at least one process parameter of the photolithographic process; and evaluating the design pattern on a photolithographic mask to the change in at least one process parameter of a photolithographic process by; comparing the first simulated image of the lithographic design on a wafer and a design target on the wafer which corresponds to the design pattern on the photolithographic mask; and comparing the second simulated image of the lithographic design on a wafer and the design target on the wafer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system to evaluate a design pattern on a photolithographic mask to a change in at least one process parameter of a photolithographic process, wherein the photolithographic process uses photolithographic equipment, the system comprising:
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a plurality of accelerator subsystems, each accelerator subsystem includes a plurality of programmable integrated circuits configured to process, in parallel, a pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask, wherein the pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask is generated using an image of the photolithographic mask, and wherein each accelerator subsystem is connected to an associated microprocessor to calculate; a portion of a first of simulated image of lithographic design on wafer using (1) a corresponding portion of the pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask and (2) a first relationship representing an imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process, a portion of a second of simulated image of the lithographic design on wafer using (1) a corresponding portion of the pixel-based bitmap of the design pattern on the photolithographic mask and (2) a second relationship representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process, wherein a difference between the first and second relationships representing the imaging path of the projection and illumination optics of the photolithographic process includes a change in the at least one process parameter of the photolithographic process; and a data processing system, coupled to the plurality of accelerator subsystems, to determine whether the design pattern on the photolithographic mask includes one or more defects by; comparing (i) the first simulated image of the lithographic design on wafer and (ii) a design target on the wafer which corresponds to the design pattern on the photolithographic mask; and comparing (i) the second simulated image of the lithographic design on wafer and (ii) the design target on the wafer. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification