Mask layout design method and mask manufacturing method comprising the design method

A mask layout design method comprising:

• receiving a layout;
• extracting a plurality of unique patterns of the layout;
• clustering and sampling the plurality of unique patterns;
• and
• inspecting the plurality of unique patterns which have been clustered and sampled,
• wherein the clustering and sampling of the plurality of unique patterns comprises
• generating a plurality of analysis groups from the plurality of unique patterns,
• determining a feature vector of each of the plurality of analysis groups,
• grouping the plurality of analysis groups based on the feature vector, and
• selecting a representative analysis group for each of the grouped analysis groups, and
• wherein the grouping of the plurality of analysis groups is based on dihedral symmetry.

A mask manufacturing method comprising:

• performing a mask layout design method;
• performing Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) on a final layout obtained through the mask layout design method;
• transferring data of an OPC-undergone layout as Mask Tape Out (MTO) design data;
• preparing mask data based on the MTO design data;
• and
• exposing a substrate for a mask on the basis of the mask data,
• wherein the performing of a mask layout design method comprises
• acquiring a layout,
• extracting a plurality of unique patterns of the layout,
• clustering and sampling the plurality of unique patterns based on symmetry of the plurality of unique patterns, and
• inspecting the plurality of unique patterns which have been clustered and sampled.