Effective proximity effect correction methodology

A mask for defining a layer of material, said mask comprising:

• a mask substrate;
• a layout pattern on said mask substrate comprising material or physical shapes for transfer of an image to a workpiece;
• said layout pattern having a feature including a proximity effect correction of an input segment in a layout file having a first evaluation point and a second evaluation point;
• the correction comprising a first corrected point, a second corrected point and an interconnecting curve connecting said first corrected point with said second corrected point, whereby points between said first and second evaluation points are corrected by said interconnecting curve.

A method for manufacturing integrated circuits, said integrated circuits including at least a layer of materials, comprising:

• receiving a computer readable layout of a portion of the integrated circuit;
• identifying using a data processor a first evaluation point and a second evaluation point of the layout;
• performing using a data processor a proximity effect correction of the first evaluation point to form a first corrected point and performing a proximity effect correction of the second evaluation point to form a second corrected point;
• computing an interconnecting curve connecting said first corrected point with said second corrected point to produce a corrected layout segment;
• producing a mask having a mask layout based on the corrected layout segment;
• treating a semiconductor with material sensitive to radiation energy;
• and
• exposing the treated semiconductor to radiation energy using the mask layout.

A method for producing a mask for a layout of a layer on an integrated circuit, comprising:

• receiving a computer readable layout of a portion of the integrated circuit;
• identifying using a data processor a first evaluation point and a second evaluation point of the layout;
• performing using a data processor a proximity effect correction of the first evaluation point to form a first corrected point and performing a proximity effect correction of the second evaluation point to form a second corrected point;
• computing an interconnecting curve connecting said first corrected point with said second corrected point to produce a corrected layout segment;
• and
• producing a mask having a mask layout based on the corrected layout segment.

A method for performing proximity effect correction on a layout of an integrated circuit to produce a corrected layout, the method comprising:

• receiving a computer readable layout of a portion of the integrated circuit;
• identifying using a data processor a first evaluation point and a second evaluation point of the layout, wherein said first evaluation point and said second evaluation point are placed on a sub-resolution assist feature;
• performing using a data processor a proximity effect correction of the first evaluation point to form a first corrected point and performing a proximity effect correction of the second evaluation point to form a second corrected point;
• and
• computing an interconnecting curve connecting said first corrected point with said second corrected point.

A method for performing proximity effect correction on a layout of an integrated circuit to produce a corrected layout, the method comprising:

• receiving a computer readable layout of a portion of the integrated circuit;
• identifying using a data processor a first evaluation point and a second evaluation point of the layout;
• performing using a data processor a proximity effect correction of the first evaluation point to form a first corrected point and performing a proximity effect correction of the second evaluation point to form a second corrected point;
• and
• computing an interconnecting curve connecting said first corrected point with said second corrected point to form corrected points between said first and second evaluation points.