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US 7,231,628 B2Granted
Method and system for context-specific mask inspection
AssigneeCadence Design Systems, Inc.
InventorsRobert C. Pack, Louis K. Scheffer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for inspecting lithography masks includes generating integrated circuit design data and using context information from the integrated circuit design data to inspect a mask.
Claims19
A method for inspecting a mask having a plurality of mask elements, the method comprising:
- generating integrated circuit design data and using information for interfeature relationships of the integrated circuit design data to provide contextual information for elements within the integrated circuit design, the contextual information comprising priority, ordering or inspection parameter information of the mask elements;
- using the contextual information to guide inspection of the mask, wherein analysis is performed to allocate mask inspection resources commensurate with the design or manufacturing specific context of the elements within the integrated circuit design data;
- and inspecting the mask using mask inspection resources allocated based upon the contextual information, wherein mask resources are allocated based upon the contextual information by adjusting the power, size, shape, order, resolution, or timing of an inspection beam.
A system for inspecting a mask having a plurality of mask elements, the system comprising:
- means for generating integrated circuit design data and using information for interfeature relationships of the integrated circuit design data to provide contextual information for elements within the integrated circuit design, the contextual information comprising priority, ordering or inspection parameter information of the mask elements;
- means for using the contextual information to guide inspection of the mask, wherein analysis is performed to allocate mask inspection resources commensurate with the design or manufacturing specific context of the elements within the integrated circuit design data;
- and means for inspecting the mask using mask inspection resources allocated based upon the contextual information, wherein mask resources are allocated based upon the contextual information by adjusting the power, size, shape, order, resolution, or timing of an inspection beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.