Conductive Line Patterning

A method comprising:

• modeling a first conductive line and a second conductive line in a layout;
• modeling a first cut line and a second cut line in the layout, the first cut line and the second cut line, respectively, intersecting the first conductive line and the second conductive line in a top-down view of the layout, the first cut line and the second cut line being spaced apart a first distance in the top-down view, the first distance being less than a minimum spacing for a photolithography processing node;
• modeling a connecting cut line in the layout, the connecting cut line connecting the first cut line and the second cut line in the top-down view;
• and
• fabricating an integrated circuit according to the layout with a photolithography process at the photolithography processing node,
• wherein the connecting cut line, the first cut line, and the second cut line are used as a merged cut section during the photolithography process, the merged cut section overlapping a first portion of the first conductive line and a second portion of the second conductive line.

A method comprising:

• modeling a first conductive line and a second conductive line in a first layer of a layout;
• modeling a first cut line and a second cut line in the first layer of the layout, the first cut line and the second cut line being spaced apart a first distance, the first distance being less than a minimum spacing for a photolithography processing node;
• modelling a connecting cut line in a second layer of the layout, the second layer being different from the first layer, the connecting cut line being laterally disposed between the first cut line and the second cut line;
• forming the first conductive line and the second conductive line over a substrate;
• and
• etching a merged cut section from the first conductive line and the second conductive line simultaneously with a photolithographic process at the photolithography processing node, the merged cut section being determined using the connecting cut line, the first cut line, and the second cut line.