Patent ID: 9064078
Filing Date: 2015-06-23
Classification: G03F,G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of designing an optical photomask, the method comprising: providing, to a computer device, a target pattern that indicates a target shape of a pre-pattern opening in a photoresist layer on a semiconductor substrate; correcting, with the computer device, the target pattern using an optical proximity correction (OPC) model to generate OPC output information that includes edge placement error (EPE) information, a first corrected pattern, a simulated contour of the pre-pattern opening, or a combination thereof; generating an alert in response to the OPC output information indicating a design criteria violation at an alert location and based on a coarse optical rule check (ORC), the EPE information exceeding a threshold, or a combination thereof; performing a targeted ORC in a targeted area surrounding the alert location in response to the alert; adjusting, with the computer device, the target pattern, the OPC model, or a combination thereof with OPC based adjustments that are based on the OPC output information; and correcting, with the computer device, the first corrected pattern using the OPC model in response to the OPC based adjustments to generate a second corrected pattern.