Photolithographic process simulation in integrated circuit design and manufacturing
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for designing an integrated circuit comprising:
- receiving a geometrical design intent for at least a portion of the integrated circuit;
receiving at least a first value and a second value for at least one process variation associated with a photolithographic process to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit;
simulating with a processing system the photolithographic process at the first and second values for the at least one process variation using one or more models characterizing the photolithographic process and the geometrical design intent to generate simulation results, wherein said first and second values were not used in generation of said one or more models; and
in response to said simulation results, re-routing a portion of the geometrical design intent so as to improve manufacturability of the integrated circuit.
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Abstract
A method, system, and related computer program products for computer simulation of a photolithographic process is described. In one embodiment, a method for designing an integrated circuit is provided. The geometrical design intent and process condition values are received for at least one process variation associated with a photolithographic process to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit. The photolithographic process is simulated at the process condition values using one or more models characterizing the photolithographic process and the geometrical design intent to generate simulation results.
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Citations
100 Claims
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1. A method for designing an integrated circuit comprising:
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receiving a geometrical design intent for at least a portion of the integrated circuit; receiving at least a first value and a second value for at least one process variation associated with a photolithographic process to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit; simulating with a processing system the photolithographic process at the first and second values for the at least one process variation using one or more models characterizing the photolithographic process and the geometrical design intent to generate simulation results, wherein said first and second values were not used in generation of said one or more models; and in response to said simulation results, re-routing a portion of the geometrical design intent so as to improve manufacturability of the integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for designing an integrated circuit comprising:
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a computer input/output system adapted to receive a geometrical design intent for at least a portion of the integrated circuit, and receive at least a first value and a second value for at least one process variation associated with a photolithographic process to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit; a processor configured and programmed to simulate the photolithographic process at the first and second values for the at least one process variation using one or more models characterizing the photolithographic process and the geometrical design intent to generate simulation results, wherein said first and second values were not used in generation of said one or more models; and a computer system for re-routing a portion of the geometrical design intent so as to improve manufacturability of the integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for designing an integrated circuit comprising:
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receiving a geometrical design intent for at least a portion of the integrated circuit; receiving at least a first value and a second value for at least one process variation associated with a photolithographic process to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit; simulating with a processing system the photolithographic process using one or more models characterizing the photolithographic process and the geometrical design intent to generate simulation results; estimating a quantitative value for yield of the integrated circuit based at least in part on the simulation results; and in response to said simulation results, re-routing a portion of the geometrical design intent so as to improve manufacturability of the integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method for simulating a photolithographic process of a design onto a target comprising:
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simulating with a processing system the photolithographic process over a substantially large physical area of the target for a plurality of values of at least one process variation associated with the photolithographic process, wherein the at least one process variation is neither dose/exposure nor focus/defocus; receiving a plurality of process conditions, each process condition comprising a condition value for each of a plurality of process variations associated with the photolithographic process, wherein said step of simulating includes simulating for each of the plurality of process conditions; receiving one or more design constraints to aid in determining if the design will lead to a functioning integrated circuit; and estimating, for each process condition whether the design constraints will have been satisfied based upon simulation results generated by said step of simulating. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. A system for simulating a photolithographic process comprising:
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a computer input/output system adapted and configured to receive a design and a plurality of process conditions, each process condition comprising a value for each of a plurality of process variations associated with the photolithographic process, wherein at least one of said process conditions is neither dose/exposure nor focus/defocus; and a processor configured and programmed to simulate the photolithographic process over a substantially large physical area of a target of the design at each of the plurality of process conditions, wherein the computer input/output system is further adapted to receive one or more design constraints to aid in determining if the design will lead to a functioning integrated circuit, and the processor is further configured and programmed to estimate for each process condition whether the design constraints will have been satisfied based upon simulation results generated by simulating the photolithographic process. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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74. A method for simulating a photolithographic process of a design onto a target comprising:
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simulating with a processing system the photolithographic process over a substantially large area on the target and at a plurality of depths within said target; receiving a plurality of process conditions, each process condition comprising a condition value for each of a plurality of process variations associated with the photolithographic process, wherein said step of simulating includes simulating for each of the plurality of process conditions; receiving one or more design constraints to aid in determining if the design will lead to a functioning integrated circuit; and estimating, for each process condition, whether said design constraints will have been satisfied based upon simulation results. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84)
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85. A method for simulating a photolithographic process of a design onto a target comprising:
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simulating with a processing system the photolithographic process repeatedly of different portions of the design onto a plurality of different portions of the target, according to a plurality of values of at least one process variation associated with the photolithographic process, wherein the at least one process variation is neither dose/exposure nor focus/defocus; combining results of said repeated simulations performed in said step of simulating; receiving a plurality of process conditions, each process condition comprising a condition value for each of a plurality of process variations associated with the photolithographic process, wherein said step of simulating includes simulating for each of the plurality of process conditions; receiving one or more design constraints to aid in determining if the design will lead to a functioning integrated circuit; and estimating, for each process condition, whether said design constraints will have been satisfied based upon simulation results generated by said step of simulating. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100)
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Specification