Illumination optimization
AssigneeASML Netherlands B.V.
InventorsJun Ye, Yu Cao, Hanying Feng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of optimizing an illumination pupil shape for a lithographic process comprises identifying a target pattern to be imaged by said lithographic process. It further comprises identifying at least one optimization point in said target pattern and identifying at least one design for manufacturing metric per optimization point. Additionally, it comprises selecting a set of illumination source points based on the identified at least one design for manufacturing metric and determining the illumination pupil shape based on the selected set of illumination source points.
Claims16
A method of improving an illumination pupil shape for an illumination source used in a lithographic process, the lithographic process being configured to image a design layout, the method comprising the steps of:
- identifying a target pattern included in the design layout;
- identifying at least one optimization point in said target pattern, wherein the optimization point comprises a spatial point within the design layout based on which the pupil shape of the illumination source is to be improved;
- identifying at least one design for manufacturing metric per optimization point;
- selecting a set of illumination source points based on the identified at least one design for manufacturing metric;
- and
- determining the improved illumination pupil shape based on the selected set of illumination source points.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.