Simulation method, simulation program, processing unit, and simulator

• US 9,189,577 B2
• Filed: 06/17/2013
• Issued: 11/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kuboi, Nobuyuki, Kinoshita, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAN, THAI Q
• Application Number:
  US13/919,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20140005990A1
• Time in Patent Office: 883 Days
• Field of Search: 703/2, 703/6, 703/9, 345/426, 362/235
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/10 Numerical modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30

Abstract

A simulation method allowing an information processing unit to perform calculation, the calculation includes: decomposing each of a plurality of incident fluxes into flux components in respective unit vector directions that are orthogonal to each other, the plurality of incident fluxes entering, at an arbitrary position, a surface of a processing target that is a target of a predetermined processing; summing up the flux components for each of the plurality of unit vector directions; and synthesizing a plurality of flux components into one vector, the plurality of flux components being summations in the respective unit vector directions and being orthogonal to each other, and thereby calculating a normal vector at the arbitrary position on the surface of the processing target.

Claims

1. A simulation method allowing an information processing unit to perform calculation, the calculation comprising:

decomposing each of a plurality of incident fluxes into flux components in respective unit vector directions that are orthogonal to each other, the plurality of incident fluxes entering, at an arbitrary position, a surface of a processing target that is a target of a predetermined processing;

summing up the flux components for each of the plurality of unit vector directions; and

synthesizing a plurality of flux components into one vector, the plurality of flux components being summations in the respective unit vector directions and being orthogonal to each other, and thereby calculating a normal vector at the arbitrary position on the surface of the processing target.

2. The simulation method according to claim 1, the calculation further comprising:

generating voxel space and expressing a shape of the processing target with use of a plurality of voxels; and

determining, based on the normal vector, damage to be caused on the processing target by the plurality of incident fluxes, and allocating the determined damage to the plurality of voxels.

3. The simulation method according to claim 2, the calculation further comprising:

setting an initial voxel size of each of the voxels based on an initial condition; and

optimizing the initial voxel size according to a reaction rate of the surface of the processing target, the reaction rate being calculated with use of the normal vector.

4. The simulation method according to claim 2, the calculation further comprising:

calculating the normal vector for a first position and the normal vector for a second position on the surface of the processing target, and thereby determining a first normal vector at the first position and a second normal vector at the second position;

allocating first damage caused by the first normal vector to a voxel that is one of the plurality of voxels and exists only in a first region, the first region having a predetermined width and including the first normal vector; and

allocating second damage caused by the second normal vector to a voxel that is one of the plurality of voxels and exists only in a second region, the second region having a predetermined width and including the second normal vector.

5. The simulation method according to claim 4, the calculation further comprising, when the plurality of voxels include an overlapping voxel that exists in both the first region and the second region,

allocating, to the overlapping voxel, damage obtained by adding the first damage and the second damage at a predetermined ratio.

6. The simulation method according to claim 4, the calculation further comprising, when the plurality of voxels include an overlapping voxel that exists in both the first region and the second region,

allocating, to the overlapping voxel, damage caused by one of the first and second normal vectors that is closer to the overlapping voxel.

7. The simulation method according to claim 4, the calculation further comprising, when the plurality of voxels include an outside voxel that exists outside both the first region and the second region,

allocating, to the outside voxel, damage obtained through interpolation calculation based on the first damage and the second damage.

8. The simulation method according to claim 4, the calculation further comprising, when the plurality of voxels include an outside voxel that exists outside both the first region and the second region,

allocating, to the outside voxel, damage caused by one of the first and second normal vectors that is closer to the outside voxel.

9. The simulation method according to claim 1, the calculation further comprising:

expressing a shape of the surface of the processing target with use of a string model that includes a plurality of lattice points, and simulating shape development based on the normal vector with use of the string model;

generating voxel space in vicinity of the surface of the processing target expressed with use of the string model, and arranging a plurality of voxels in the voxel space; and

determining, based on the normal vector, damage caused on the processing target by the plurality of incident fluxes, and allocating the determined damage to the plurality of voxels.

10. The simulation method according to claim 1, the calculation further comprising,

solving a surface reaction model based on both the normal vector and a total flux amount in the direction of the normal vector, the surface reaction model established in consideration of the direction of the normal vector, and thereby calculating either a reaction rate of the predetermined processing or damage to be caused on the processing target by the plurality of incident fluxes.

11. The simulation method according to claim 1, the calculation further comprising:

generating voxel space and expressing a shape of the processing target with use of a plurality of voxels;

solving, based on the normal vector, a predetermined surface reaction model, and thereby calculating a reaction rate of the predetermined processing in a predetermined step of time period;

integrating an amount of shape development based on the reaction rate for a plurality of steps of time period; and

simulating the shape development on the plurality of voxels, based on the integrated amount of shape development.

12. The simulation method according to claim 11, the calculation further comprising:

solving, based on the normal vector, the predetermined surface reaction model, and thereby calculating, in the predetermined step of time period, damage caused on the processing target;

integrating the determined damage for a plurality of steps of time period; and

allocating the integrated damage to the plurality of voxels.

13. The simulation method according to claim 11, wherein, the simulating of the shape development includes determining whether or not the integrated amount of the shape development satisfies a predetermined condition depending on a size of one of the voxels, and includes executing the shape development when the integrated amount of the shape development satisfies the predetermined condition.

14. The simulation method according to claim 11, wherein

the processing target includes a plurality of processing layers made of different materials, and

the expressing of the shape of the processing target by the plurality of voxels includes changing a size of the voxels that express the two or more of the processing layers when the shape development reaches a region in which the shape development is predicted to be performed over two or more of the processing layers.

15. The simulation method according to claim 11, wherein

the processing target includes a plurality of processing layers made of different materials,

the simulating of the shape development includes simulating the shape development based not on the integrated amount of the shape development but on an amount of the shape development corresponding to the predetermined step of time period, in a region in which the shape development is predicted to be performed in a single processing layer of the plurality of processing layers, and simulating the shape development based on the integrated amount of the shape development in a region in which the shape development is predicted to be performed over two or more of the processing layers.

16. The simulation method according to claim 1, the calculation further comprising:

calculating variation in ion energy distribution function and variation in ion angular distribution function at time when an ion passes through a deposition film formed on the surface of the processing target and a reaction layer of the processing target formed below the deposition film; and

calculating the plurality of incident fluxes in consideration of the variation in the ion energy distribution function and the variation in the ion angular distribution function.

17. The simulation method according to claim 16, the calculation further comprising:

solving, based on the normal vector, a predetermined surface reaction model, and thereby calculating a reaction rate of the predetermined processing;

calculating, based on the reaction rate, shape development of the processing target;

calculating variation in thickness of the deposition film caused by the shape development; and

recalculating the variation in the ion energy distribution function and the variation in the ion angular distribution function with use of a value of the variation in the thickness of the deposition film as a parameter.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a simulation program that allows an information processing unit to perform calculation, the calculation comprising:

decomposing each of a plurality of incident fluxes into flux components in respective unit vector directions that are orthogonal to each other, the plurality of incident fluxes entering, at an arbitrary position, a surface of a processing target that is a target of a predetermined processing;

summing up the flux components for each of the plurality of unit vector directions; and

synthesizing a plurality of flux components into one vector, the plurality of flux components being summations in the respective unit vector directions and being orthogonal to each other, and thereby calculating a normal vector at the arbitrary position on the surface of the processing target.

19. A processing unit comprising:

a processing section performing a predetermined processing on a processing target; and

a simulator simulating the predetermined processing, the simulator performing calculation including

decomposing each of a plurality of incident fluxes into flux components in respective unit vector directions that are orthogonal to each other, the plurality of incident fluxes entering, at an arbitrary position, a surface of the processing target,

summing up the flux components for each of the plurality of unit vector directions, and

synthesizing a plurality of flux components into one vector, the plurality of flux components being summations in the respective unit vector directions and being orthogonal to each other, and thereby calculating a normal vector at the arbitrary position on the surface of the processing target.

20. A simulator comprising a calculation section simulating a predetermined processing on a processing target, the calculation section performing calculation including

decomposing each of a plurality of incident fluxes into flux components in respective unit vector directions that are orthogonal to each other, the plurality of incident fluxes entering, at an arbitrary position, a surface of the processing target,

summing up the flux components for each of the plurality of unit vector directions, and

synthesizing a plurality of flux components into one vector, the plurality of flux components being summations in the respective unit vector directions and being orthogonal to each other, and thereby calculating a normal vector at the arbitrary position on the surface of the processing target.