Fracturing continuous photolithography masks

A computer usable program product comprising a computer usable non-transitory storage medium including computer usable code for fracturing a continuous mask, the computer usable code comprising:

• computer usable code for selecting from a set of points a first origin point on an edge in the continuous mask, the continuous mask being a mask usable in manufacturing an integrated circuit (IC) by photolithography;
• computer usable code for identifying from the set of points a first end point on the edge such that a separation metric between the first origin point and the first end point is at least equal to a threshold value;
• computer usable code for determining a plurality of alternatives for fracturing using the first origin point and the first end point;
• computer usable code for computing a cost associated with each of the plurality of alternatives;
• computer usable code for selecting one of the plurality of alternatives having an associated cost as a preferred fracturing between the first origin point and the first end point;
• computer usable code for forming a plurality of pairs of origin points and end points from the set of points, each pair having a cost of a preferred fracturing between the pair, the first origin point and the first end point forming a first pair in the plurality of pairs of origin points and end points;
• computer usable code for fracturing the continuous mask using a subset of the plurality of pairs, the fracturing producing a fractured mask to manufacture the IC;
• and
• wherein the computer usable code for selecting one of the alternatives further comprises:
• computer usable code for determining a difference between the costs of two alternatives in the plurality;
• computer usable code for determining whether the difference exceeds a cost threshold;
• and
• computer usable code for selecting, responsive to the difference not exceeding the cost threshold, the alternative having smaller cost from the two alternatives.

A data processing system for fracturing a continuous mask, the data processing system comprising:

• a storage device including a storage medium, wherein the storage device stores computer usable program code;
• and
• a processor, wherein the processor executes the computer usable program code, and wherein the computer usable program code comprises:
• computer usable code for selecting from a set of points a first origin point on an edge in the continuous mask, the continuous mask being a mask usable in manufacturing an integrated circuit (IC) by photolithography;
• computer usable code for identifying from the set of points a first end point on the edge such that a separation metric between the first origin point and the first end point is at least equal to a threshold value;
• computer usable code for determining a plurality of alternatives for fracturing using the first origin point and the first end point;
• computer usable code for computing a cost associated with each of the plurality of alternatives;
• computer usable code for selecting one of the plurality of alternatives having an associated cost as a preferred fracturing between the first origin point and the first end point;
• computer usable code for forming a plurality of pairs of origin points and end points from the set of points, each pair having a cost of a preferred fracturing between the pair, the first origin point and the first end point forming a first pair in the plurality of pairs of origin points and end points;
• computer usable code for fracturing the continuous mask using a subset of the plurality of pairs, the fracturing producing a fractured mask to manufacture the IC;
• and
• wherein the computer usable code for selecting one of the alternatives further comprises:
• computer usable code for determining a difference between the costs of two alternatives in the plurality;
• computer usable code for determining whether the difference exceeds a cost threshold;
• and
• computer usable code for selecting, responsive to the difference not exceeding the cost threshold, the alternative having smaller cost from the two alternatives.