TIP-OPC: a new topological invariant paradigm for pixel based optical proximity correction

—As the 193nm lithography is likely to be used for 45nm and even 32nm processes, much more stringent requirement will be posed on Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) technologies. Currently, there are two OPC approaches — the model-based OPC (MB-OPC) and the inverse lithography technology (ILT). MB-OPC generates masks which is less complex compared with ILT. But ILT produces much better results than MB-OPC in terms of contour fidelity because ILT is a pixel based method. Observing that MB-OPC preserves the mask shape topologies which leads to a lower mask complexity, we combine the strengths of both methods — the topology invariant property and the pixel based mask representation. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that this topological invariant pixel based OPC (TIP-OPC) paradigm is proposed, which fills the critical hole of the OPC landscape and potentially has many new applications. Our technical novelty includes the lithography friendly mask topological inva...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ICCAD
• Authors: Peng Yu, David Z. Pan
• Keywords: Hardware, ICCAD 2007, Mask Shape Topologies, Pixel Based Mask, Pixel Based Opc