Process for producing and inspecting a lithographic reticle and fabricating semiconductor devices using same

A process for patterning a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:

• providing a reticle generation database having a plurality of database features included therein, wherein:
• the plurality of database features have a predetermined characteristic dimension;
• producing a lithographic reticle using the reticle generation database, the lithographic reticle having a plurality of reticle features corresponding to the plurality of database features;
• providing a reticle inspection database having a plurality of altered database dimensions generated by altering the predetermined characteristic dimension of the reticle generation database, wherein the plurality of reticle features is more closely represented by the reticle inspection database than by the reticle generation database;
• inspecting the lithographic reticle using the reticle inspection database;
• and
• using the lithographic reticle to create a pattern on a semiconductor substrate.