Method and system for utilizing an isofocal contour to perform optical and process corrections
AssigneeLSI Logic Corporation
InventorEbo Croffie
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Abstract
A method and system for performing optical proximity correction (OPC) on an integrated circuit (IC) mask design is disclosed. The system and method of the present invention includes identifying a feature in the IC mask design, generating an isofocal contour for the identified feature, wherein the isofocal contour is a continuum of isofocal points corresponding to points on an edge of the identified feature, and utilizing the isofocal contour to estimate an amount of correction needed to produce a resist image significantly identical to the identified feature.
Claims27
A computer-implemented method for performing optical proximity correction (OPC) on an integrated circuit (IC) mask design, the method comprising:
- (a) identifying a feature in the IC mask design;
- (b) generating an isofocal contour for the identified feature, wherein the isofocal contour is a continuum of isofocal points corresponding to points on an edge of the identified feature;
- and
- (c) utilizing the isofocal contour to estimate an amount of correction needed to produce a resist image significantly identical to the identified feature.
A computer readable medium containing programming instructions for performing optical proximity correction (OPC) on an integrated circuit (IC) mask design, the programming instructions include:
- (a) identifying a feature in the IC mask design;
- (b) generating an isofocal contour for the identified feature, wherein the isofocal contour is a continuum of isofocal points corresponding to points on an edge of the identified feature;
- and
- (c) utilizing the isofocal contour to estimate an amount of correction needed to produce a resist image significantly identical to the identified feature.
A system for performing optical proximity correction (OPC) on an integrated circuit (IC) mask design comprising:
- a microprocessor;
- a storage device coupled to the microprocessor, wherein the storage device includes:
- an input/output module;
- an IC mask design;
- and
- an OPC module, wherein the OPC module includes programming instructions for identifying a feature in the IC mask design, generating an isofocal contour for the identified feature, wherein the isofocal contour is a continuum of isofocal points corresponding to points on an edge of the identified feature, and utilizing the isofocal contour to estimate an amount of correction needed to produce a resist image significantly identical to the identified feature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.