Dissection splitting with optical proximity correction and mask rule check enforcement

An integrated circuit (IC) design method comprising:

• receiving an IC design layout of an integrated circuit;
• assigning targets to a main feature of the IC design layout;
• performing a main feature dissection to the main feature, thereby generating at least one non-target sub-portion and at least one target sub-portion;
• performing an optical proximity correction (OPC) to the IC design layout;
• and
• performing a mask rule check (MRC) to the non-target sub-portion of the main feature.

An integrated circuit (IC) design method comprising:

• receiving an IC design layout having a main feature;
• assigning targets to the main feature;
• generating a non-target sub-portion and a target sub-portion of the main feature through a dissection process;
• performing an optical proximity correction (OPC) to the IC design layout;
• and
• modifying the non-target sub-portion according to a mask rule when the main feature fails the mask rule.