Patent ID: 12216979

The accompanying drawings above include the following reference numerals:

100. scribe line area;101. test element group (TEG) area;102. die area;103. slit;104. die sub-area;105. scribe line sub-area;106. first sub-TEG area;107. second sub-TEG area;108. first seal ring area; and109. second seal ring area.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be noted that embodiments in the disclosure and features in the embodiments can be combined mutually if there is no conflict. The following will describe the disclosure in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with the embodiments.

In order to enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to better understand solutions of the disclosure, the following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are some rather than all of the embodiments of the disclosure. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the described embodiments of the disclosure without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the disclosure.

It should be noted that the terms “first”, “second”, etc. in the specification and claims of the disclosure and the above accompanying drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, but are not necessarily used to describe a specific sequence or a precedence order. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances for the purposes of the embodiments of the disclosure described herein. In addition, terms “including”, “having”, and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, processes, methods, systems, products, or devices that include a series of steps or units need not be limited to those clearly listed steps or units, but can include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to the processes, methods, products, or devices.

It should be understood that when an element (such as a layer, a film, an area, or a substrate) is described as being “on” another element, the element can be directly on another element, or an intermediate element can also exist. Furthermore, in the specification and claims, when it is described that an element is “connected” to another element, the element can be “directly connected” to another element or “connected” to the another element through a third element.

For the convenience of description, partial nouns or terms related to the embodiments of the disclosure are described below:

OPC is short for optical proximity correction, and a pattern on a mask is projected onto a photoresist through an exposure system. Due to an imperfection and a diffraction effect of an optical system, a pattern on the photoresist is not completely consistent with the pattern on the mask. The optical proximity correction is to correct the pattern on the mask by a calculation method.

As shown inFIG.1, the pattern on the mask includes a die area102and a scribe line area100. The die area102and the scribe line area100are separated firstly for OPC, and then the die area and the scribe line area100which are subjected to the OPC are merged. However, as shown inFIG.2, there will be a slit103at a joint between the scribe line area100and the die area102which are merged, and therefore quality of the mask and subsequent exposure effect will be affected by a slit pattern.

As such, a slit is produced on a mask after the OPC in the implementations ofFIG.1andFIG.2. To solve the problem, an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure provides a method for correcting a mask pattern, an apparatus for correcting a mask pattern, a computer readable storage medium, a processor, an electronic device and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, the method for correcting the mask pattern is provided.

FIG.3is a flowchart of the method for correcting the mask pattern according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown inFIG.3, the method includes:

S101, an initial pattern of a mask is acquired, as shown inFIG.4, the initial pattern including a scribe line area100and die areas102which are spaced, and the scribe line area100is located between two adjacent die areas102, each of the die areas102includes at least one die sub-area104and at least one first sub-test element group (TEG) area106, and the scribe line area100includes scribe line sub-areas105and second sub-TEG areas107, the first sub-TEG area106and the second sub-TEG area107are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area106and the second sub-TEG area107constitute a TEG area101; and

S102, an optical proximity correction is performed on an area of the initial pattern excluding TEG areas101, so as to acquire a final pattern.

In the method for correcting the mask pattern, the initial pattern of the mask is firstly acquired, the initial pattern includes the scribe line area and the die areas which are spaced, and the scribe line area is located between the two adjacent die areas, each of the die areas includes the die sub-area and the first sub-TEG area, and the scribe line area includes the scribe line sub-area and the second sub-TEG area, the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area constitute the TEG area, that is, the TEG area is separately adjacent to the die sub-area and the scribe line sub-area; and then the optical proximity correction is performed on the area of the initial pattern excluding the TEG areas, so as to acquire the final pattern. Compared with the implementations in which the OPC is separately performed on the die area and a frame, and then the die area and the frame which are subjected to the OPC are merged, which causes the problem that a joint between a merged scribe line and a merged die area has a slit, the method of the disclosure does not perform the OPC on the TEG areas between die sub-areas and the scribe line sub-areas during the OPC on the initial pattern, such that extra polygon edges of corrected die sub-areas, and extra polygon edges of corrected scribe line sub-areas can both extend to the TEG areas, thus ensuring that the final pattern acquired after the OPC will be free of a slit, avoiding a problem of the slit on the mask produced after the OPC, and ensuring that the final pattern has a desirable effect, thereby ensuring that a photoresist pattern acquired after exposing and developing a wafer according to the final pattern has a desirable effect.

It should be noted that the scribe line area corresponds to a scribe line position on a wafer to be photoetched, the die area corresponds to a die position on the wafer, and the TEG area corresponds to a TEG pattern position on the wafer.

During an actual application, there are a large number of patterns needing the OPC in the die sub-area and the scribe line sub-area.

In order to further ensure performing the optical proximity correction on the area of the initial pattern excluding the TEG areas simply and effectively, according to a specific embodiment of the disclosure, as shown inFIG.6, the optical proximity correction is performed on the area in the initial pattern excluding the TEG areas includes: a script for the optical proximity correction is generated, and the script has a function of identifying a boundary of each of the TEG areas and not performing the optical proximity correction on each of the TEG areas; and the optical proximity correction is performed on the initial pattern by the script, so as to acquire the final pattern. Through the script operation, the method further ensures that the TEG areas are not corrected when the optical proximity correction is performed on the initial pattern, thereby further ensuring that the final pattern is free of the slit.

In another specific embodiment of the disclosure, as shown inFIG.7, the optical proximity correction is performed on the initial pattern by the script, so as to acquire the final pattern includes: the initial pattern is decomposed into a plurality of first correction areas and a plurality of second correction areas by the script, and each of the plurality of first correction areas includes the die sub-area, each of the plurality of second correction areas includes the scribe line sub-area, and each of the plurality of first correction areas and each of the plurality of second correction areas do not overlap; the optical proximity correction on the plurality of first correction areas and the plurality of second correction areas are performed separately; and a plurality of corrected first correction areas are matched and merged with a plurality of corrected second correction areas to acquire the final pattern.

During the actual application, a method of the optical proximity correction on the initial pattern is not limited to the method above, and a person of ordinary skill in the art can also use any feasible optical proximity correction method in the art to correct the initial pattern as long as the TEG areas of the initial pattern are not corrected.

In yet another specific embodiment of the disclosure, as shown inFIG.8, after the plurality of corrected first correction areas are matched and merged with the plurality of corrected second correction areas, the method further includes: whether an overlap length of a boundary of each of a plurality of merged first correction areas and a boundary of each of a plurality of merged second correction areas correspondingly is tested to be greater than or equal to a predetermined length; and mergings are determined succeed on a condition that the overlap length is greater than or equal to the predetermined length. According to the method, by testing the overlap length of the boundary of each of the plurality of merged first correction areas and the boundary of each of the plurality of merged second correction areas correspondingly, merging effects of the plurality of corrected first correction areas and the plurality of corrected second correction areas are further monitored.

According to still another specific embodiment of the disclosure, the initial pattern further includes a plurality of seal ring areas, the plurality of seal ring areas are located in the TEG areas. The plurality of seal ring areas protect the die sub-areas and the scribe line sub-areas.

During the actual application, as shown inFIG.4, some of the plurality of seal ring areas are first seal ring areas108, the first seal ring areas108are located in first sub-TEG areas106, and other of the plurality of seal ring areas are second seal ring areas109, the second seal ring areas109are located in the second sub-TEG areas107.

Specifically, besides the plurality of seal ring areas, each of the TEG areas further includes a plurality of test element set areas, and each of the TEG areas has an upper boundary and a lower boundary.

During the actual application, a first pattern file of the mask includes the final pattern of the mask, the first pattern file is a file in a graphic data system (GDS) format or in an office automation system (OAS) format, and the first pattern file includes all process parameters of the mask. According to the first pattern file in the GDS format or the OAS format, a mask factory acquires a second pattern file after a development process, and the second pattern file is a file in a manufacturing electron beam exposure system (MEBES) format. The development process can be a positive development or a negative development.

It should be noted that steps shown in the flowchart of the accompanying drawings can be executed, for example, in a computer system for a set of computer-executable instructions, and although a logical sequence is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described can be executed in a sequence different from that stated herein.

The embodiment of the disclosure further provides an apparatus for correcting a mask pattern. It should be noted that the apparatus for correcting the mask pattern provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can be used to execute the method for correcting the mask pattern provided by the embodiment of the disclosure. The apparatus for correcting the mask pattern provided by the embodiment of the disclosure is described below.

FIG.5is a schematic diagram of the apparatus for correcting the mask pattern according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown inFIG.5, the apparatus includes: an acquisition unit10and a correction unit20, and the acquisition unit10is used for acquiring an initial pattern of a mask, as shown inFIG.4, the initial pattern including a scribe line area100and die areas102which are spaced, and the scribe line area100is located between two adjacent die areas102, each of the die areas102includes at least one die sub-area104and at least one first sub-test element group (TEG) area106, and the scribe line area100includes scribe line sub-areas105and second sub-TEG areas107, the first sub-TEG area106and the second sub-TEG area107are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area106and the second sub-TEG area107constitute a TEG area101; and the correction unit20is used for performing an optical proximity correction on an area of the initial pattern excluding TEG areas101, so as to acquire a final pattern.

In the apparatus for correcting the mask pattern, the initial pattern of the mask is firstly acquired through the acquisition unit, the initial pattern includes the scribe line area and the die areas which are spaced, and the scribe line area is located between the two adjacent die areas, each of the die areas includes the die sub-area and the first sub-TEG area, and the scribe line area includes the scribe line sub-area and the second sub-TEG area, the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area constitute the TEG area, that is, the TEG area is separately adjacent to the die sub-area and the scribe line sub-area; and then the optical proximity correction is performed, through the correction unit, on the area of the initial pattern excluding the TEG areas, so as to acquire the final pattern. Compared with the implementations in which the OPC is separately performed on the die area and a frame, and then the die area and the frame which are subjected to the OPC are merged, which causes the problem that a joint between a merged scribe line and a merged die area has a slit, the apparatus of the disclosure does not perform the OPC on the TEG areas between die sub-areas and the scribe line sub-areas during the OPC on the initial pattern, such that extra polygon edges of corrected die sub-areas, and extra polygon edges of corrected scribe line sub-areas can both extend to the TEG areas, thus ensuring that the final pattern acquired after the OPC will be free of a slit, avoiding a problem of the slit on the mask produced after the OPC, and ensuring that the final pattern has a desirable effect, thereby ensuring that a photoresist pattern acquired after exposing and developing a wafer according to the final pattern has a desirable effect.

It should be noted that the scribe line area corresponds to a scribe line position on a wafer to be photoetched, the die area corresponds to a die position on the wafer, and the TEG area corresponds to a TEG pattern position on the wafer.

During an actual application, there are a large number of patterns needing the OPC in the die sub-area and the scribe line sub-area.

In order to further ensure performing the optical proximity correction on the area of the initial pattern excluding the TEG areas simply and effectively, according to a specific embodiment of the disclosure, as shown inFIG.9, the correction unit20includes a generation module and a correction module, and the generation module is used for generating a script for the optical proximity correction, and the script has a functions of identifying a boundary of each of the TEG areas and not performing the optical proximity correction on each of the TEG areas; and the correction module is used for performing the optical proximity correction on the initial pattern by the script, so as to acquire the final pattern. Through the script operation, the apparatus further ensures that the TEG areas are not corrected when the optical proximity correction is performed on the initial pattern, thereby further ensuring that the final pattern is free of the slit.

In another specific embodiment of the disclosure, as shown inFIG.10, the correction module includes a decomposition sub-module, a correction sub-module and a matching sub-module, and the decomposition sub-module is used for decomposing the initial pattern into a plurality of first correction areas and a plurality of second correction areas by the script, and each of the plurality of first correction areas includes the die sub-area, each of the plurality of second correction areas includes the scribe line sub-area, and each of the plurality of first correction areas and each of the plurality of the second correction areas do not overlap; the correction sub-module is used for separately performing the optical proximity correction on the plurality of first correction areas and the plurality of second correction areas; and the matching sub-module is used for matching and merging a plurality of corrected first correction areas with a plurality of corrected second correction areas to acquire the final pattern.

In yet another specific embodiment of the disclosure, as shown inFIG.11, the apparatus further includes a testing unit30and a determination unit40, and the testing unit30is used for testing whether an overlap length of a boundary of each of a plurality of merged first correction areas and a boundary of each of a plurality of merged second correction areas is greater than or equal to a predetermined length after matching and merging the plurality of corrected first correction areas with the plurality of corrected second correction areas; and the determination unit40is used for determining that mergings succeed on a condition that the overlap length is greater than or equal to the predetermined length. According to the apparatus, by testing the overlap length of the boundary of each of the plurality of merged first correction areas and the boundary of each of the plurality of merged second correction areas correspondingly, merging effects of the plurality of corrected first correction areas and the plurality of corrected second correction areas are further monitored.

According to still another specific embodiment of the disclosure, the initial pattern further includes a plurality of seal ring areas, the plurality of seal ring areas are located in the TEG areas. The plurality of seal ring areas protect the die sub-areas and the scribe line sub-areas.

During the actual application, as shown inFIG.4, some of the plurality of seal ring areas are first seal ring areas108, the first seal ring areas108are located in first sub-TEG areas106, and other of the plurality of seal ring areas are second seal ring areas109, the second seal ring areas109are located in the second sub-TEG areas107.

Specifically, besides the plurality of seal ring areas, each of the TEG areas further includes a plurality of test element set areas, and each of the TEG areas has an upper boundary and a lower boundary.

During the actual application, a first pattern file of the mask includes the final pattern of the mask, the first pattern file is a file in a graphic data system (GDS) format or in an office automation system (OAS) format, and the first pattern file includes all process parameters of the mask. According to the first pattern file in the GDS format or the OAS format, a mask factory acquires a second pattern file after a development process, and the second pattern file is a file in a manufacturing electron beam exposure system (MEBES) format. The development process can be a positive development or a negative development.

The apparatus for correcting the mask pattern includes a processor and a memory, and the acquisition unit, the correction unit, etc. are stored in the memory as program units, and the processor executes the program units stored in the memory to realize corresponding functions.

The processor contains a core, and the core calls the program units correspondingly in the memory. One or more cores can be set, and the problem of the slit on the mask produced after the OPC can be solved by adjusting parameters of the cores.

The memory can include at least one of a non-permanent memory, a random-access memory (RAM) and a nonvolatile memory, etc. in an computer readable medium, such as a read-only memory (ROM) or a flash RAM, and the memory includes at least one memory chip area.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a computer readable storage medium, including a stored program, the stored program executing the method for correcting the mask pattern when executed by a processor.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a processor, the processor is used for running a program, and the program executes the method for correcting the mask pattern when run.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a device, the device includes a processor, a memory, and a program, and the program is stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor, and the processor executes, when executing the program, the at least following steps:S101, an initial pattern of a mask is acquired, the initial pattern including a scribe line area and die areas which are spaced, and the scribe line area is located between two adjacent die areas, each of the die areas includes at least one die sub-area and at least one first sub-test element group (TEG) area, and the scribe line area includes scribe line sub-areas and second sub-TEG areas, the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area constitute a TEG area; andS102, an optical proximity correction is performed on an area of the initial pattern excluding TEG areas, so as to acquire a final pattern.

The device in the specification can be a server, a personal computer (PC), a PAD, a mobile phone, etc.

The disclosure further provides a computer program product. When executed on a data processing device, the computer program product is applied to execute a program which is initialized to have at least the following method steps:S101, an initial pattern of a mask is acquired, the initial pattern including a scribe line area and die areas which are spaced, and the scribe line area is located between two adjacent die areas, each of the die areas includes at least one die sub-area and at least one first sub-test element group (TEG) area, and the scribe line area includes scribe line sub-areas and second sub-TEG areas, the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area constitute a TEG area; andS102, an optical proximity correction is performed on an area of the initial pattern excluding TEG areas, so as to acquire a final pattern.

According to yet another aspect of the embodiment of the disclosure, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is further provided. The method includes: a wafer to be processed is provided, and a structural layer of a surface of the wafer to be processed is a photoresist layer; a mask is placed on the photoresist layer to acquire a component to be exposed, and a pattern of the mask is acquired by any one of the method for correcting the mask pattern; the component to be exposed is exposed; and a exposed wafer is developed.

According to the method for manufacturing the semiconductor device, the wafer to be processed is firstly provided, and the structural layer of the surface of the wafer to be processed is the photoresist layer; then the mask is placed on the photoresist layer to acquire the component to be exposed, the pattern of the mask is acquired by any said correction method; finally the component to be exposed is exposed; and the exposed wafer is developed. The method uses any said correction method to acquire the pattern of the mask, and exposes and develops the wafer to be processed with the mask. Since the correction method does not perform OPC on a TEG area when performing the OPC on an initial pattern of the mask, the pattern acquired after the OPC will not produce a slit, thus avoiding a problem of the slit on the mask produced after the OPC, ensuring a desirable effect of a photoresist pattern of the wafer subjected to exposing and developing, and avoiding a slit pattern on the photoresist pattern.

In the above embodiments of the disclosure, descriptions of the embodiments have their own emphases. For a portion not detailed in certain embodiment, reference can be made to relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

It should be understood that in several embodiments provided by the disclosure, technical contents disclosed can be implemented in other manners. The apparatus embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, unit division can be a logical function division and can have other division manners during actual implementation, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Moreover, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection with each other shown or discussed herein can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, units or modules, and can be in electrical or other forms.

The units described as separated parts can or can not be physically separated, and the parts displayed as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place or distributed to multiple units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of a solution of this embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the disclosure can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The above integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware, or can be implemented in the form of software functional units.

If the integrated units are implemented in the form of the software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, a technical solution of the disclosure can be embodied in the form of software products in essence or in part that contributes to the prior art or in part or whole, the computer software products are stored in the storage medium, and include several instructions to make one piece of computer equipment (which can be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) execute whole or partial steps of the method of each embodiment of the disclosure. The foregoing storage medium includes a USB flash drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a mobile hard disk drive, a diskette or an optical disk, etc., which can store program codes.

From the above description, it can be seen that the above example of the disclosure achieves the following technical effects:

1). In the method for correcting the mask pattern of the disclosure, the initial pattern of the mask is firstly acquired, the initial pattern includes the scribe line area and the die areas which are spaced, and the scribe line area is located between the two adjacent die areas, each of the die areas includes the die sub-area and the first sub-TEG area, and the scribe line area includes the scribe line sub-area and the second sub-TEG area, the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area constitute the TEG area, that is, the TEG area is separately adjacent to the die sub-area and the scribe line sub-area; and then the optical proximity correction is performed on the area of the initial pattern excluding the TEG areas, so as to acquire the final pattern. Compared with the implementations in which the OPC is separately performed on the die area and a frame, and then the die area and the frame which are subjected to the OPC are merged, which causes the problem that a joint between a merged scribe line and a merged die area has a slit, the method of the disclosure does not perform the OPC on the TEG areas between die sub-areas and the scribe line sub-areas during the OPC on the initial pattern, such that extra polygon edges of corrected die sub-areas, and extra polygon edges of corrected scribe line sub-areas can both extend to the TEG areas, thus ensuring that the final pattern acquired after the OPC will be free of a slit, avoiding a problem of the slit on the mask produced after the OPC, and ensuring that the final pattern has a desirable effect, thereby ensuring that a photoresist pattern acquired after exposing and developing a wafer according to the final pattern has a desirable effect.

2). In the apparatus for correcting the mask pattern, the initial pattern of the mask is firstly acquired through the acquisition unit, the initial pattern includes the scribe line area and the die areas which are spaced, and the scribe line area is located between the two adjacent die areas, each of the die areas includes the die sub-area and the first sub-TEG area, and the scribe line area includes the scribe line sub-area and the second sub-TEG area, the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area are adjacent to each other, and the first sub-TEG area and the second sub-TEG area constitute the TEG area, that is, the TEG area is separately adjacent to the die sub-area and the scribe line sub-area; and then the optical proximity correction is performed, through the correction unit, on the area of the initial pattern excluding the TEG areas, so as to acquire the final pattern. Compared with the implementations in which the OPC is separately performed on the die area and a frame, and then the die area and the frame which are subjected to the OPC are merged, which causes the problem that a joint between a merged scribe line and a merged die area has a slit, the apparatus of the disclosure does not perform the OPC on the TEG areas between die sub-areas and the scribe line sub-areas during the OPC on the initial pattern, such that extra polygon edges of corrected die sub-areas, and extra polygon edges of corrected scribe line sub-areas can both extend to the TEG areas, thus ensuring that the final pattern acquired after the OPC will be free of a slit, avoiding a problem of the slit on the mask produced after the OPC, and ensuring that the final pattern has a desirable effect, thereby ensuring that a photoresist pattern acquired after exposing and developing a wafer according to the final pattern has a desirable effect.

3). In the method for manufacturing the semiconductor device of the disclosure, the wafer to be processed is firstly provided, and the structural layer of the surface of the wafer to be processed is the photoresist layer; then the mask is placed on the photoresist layer to acquire the component to be exposed, the pattern of the mask is acquired by any said correction method; finally the component to be exposed is exposed; and the exposed wafer is developed. The method uses any said correction method to acquire the pattern of the mask, and exposes and develops the wafer to be processed with the mask. Since the correction method does not perform OPC on a TEG area when performing the OPC on an initial pattern of the mask, the pattern acquired after the OPC will not produce a slit, thus avoiding a problem of the slit on the mask produced after the OPC, ensuring a desirable effect of a photoresist pattern of the wafer subjected to exposing and developing, and avoiding a slit pattern on the photoresist pattern.

The above mentioned is merely a preferred embodiment of the disclosure and is not intended to limit the disclosure, and for a person of ordinary skill in the art, the disclosure can be variously modified and changed. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the disclosure are intended to be included within the scope of protection of the disclosure.