Mask patterns and method of manufacture
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsWen-Chang Hsueh, Ta-Cheng Lien, Chia-Jen Chen, Hsin-Chang Lee
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Abstract
Photomasks and methods of fabricating the photomasks are provided herein. In some examples, a layout for forming an integrated circuit device is received. The layout includes a set of printing features. A region of the layout is identified. The region is at a distance from the set of printing features such that an exposure region associated with a feature in the region does not affect a set of exposure regions associated with the set of printing features. A plurality of non-printing features is inserted into the region. A photomask is fabricated based on the layout.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- receiving a layout for forming an integrated circuit device, wherein the layout includes a set of printing features and optical proximity correction (OPC) patterns;
- after receiving the layout, identifying a region of the layout, wherein the region is at a distance from the set of printing features such that an exposure region associated with a feature in the region does not affect a set of exposure regions associated with the set of printing features;
- inserting a plurality of non-printing features into the region prior to fabricating any photomask based on the layout;
- and
- fabricating a photomask based on the layout.
A method of forming a photomask, comprising:
- receiving a layout of an integrated circuit (IC) device;
- performing an optical proximity correction (OPC) process to incorporate OPC patterns into the layout, wherein the OPC patterns are around a main pattern and are positioned within an area;
- after performing the OPC process, inserting non-printing features into the layout, wherein the non-printing features are positioned outside the area, wherein the inserting of the non-printing features in the layout occurs prior to fabricating any photomask based on the layout;
- and
- fabricating the photomask based on the layout.
A method comprising:
- receiving a layout of an integrated circuit (IC) device having a set of printing features;
- inserting into the layout a first-order optical proximity correction (OPC) feature and a second-order OPC feature;
- inserting a non-printing feature into the layout, wherein the non-printing feature is positioned further away from the set of printing features than the first-order OPC feature and the second-order OPC feature, wherein the inserting of the non-printing feature into the layout occurs prior to fabricating any photomask based on the layout;
- and
- after the inserting of the non-printing feature into the layout, fabricating a photomask based on the layout.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.