Patent ID: 11966156
Assignee: KLA CORPORATION
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 20:
21. A method comprising:
developing a simulation-based model of a layer thickness after one or more process steps for fabricating features on a sample, wherein the simulation-based model accepts an input mask design to be exposed on the sample and provides at least the layer thickness after the one or more process steps as an output;
developing a transformed model of the fabrication process that emulates the simulation-based model and has a faster evaluation speed than the simulation-based model for a selected range of at least one of inputs or outputs, wherein the inputs to the transformed model include the input mask design, wherein the outputs of the transformed model include one or more output parameters associated with fabrication of the input mask design as well as one or more sensitivity metrics describing sensitivities of the one or more output parameters to variations of the input mask design, wherein the one or more output parameters include at least one of the layer thickness after the one or more process steps or a stochastic defect rate based on the layer thickness;
receiving a candidate mask design; and
generating a repaired mask design based on the transformed model and the candidate mask design.