Patent ID: 7617475

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a photomask that is used in an integrated circuit (IC) process to define a first patterned layer of the integrated circuit, comprising: providing graphic data of the photomask; performing an optical proximity correction (OPC) to the graphic data; performing a process rule check to the graphic data with the OPC; when at least one failed pattern not passing the process rule check is found in the graphic data with the OPC, performing a repair procedure only to the failed pattern so that the failed pattern can pass the process rule check; and forming patterns of the photomask according to the graphic data that have been subjected to the OPC and the repair procedure, wherein the repair procedure comprises: retrieving graphic data of parts of an upper patterned layer and a lower patterned layer that are respectively over and under the first patterned layer in the integrate circuit and relate to the first patterned layer, the parts of the upper and lower patterned layers corresponding to the failed pattern; checking arrangement of at least one adjacent pattern neighboring to the failed pattern in the integrated circuit; and adjusting at least one of a critical dimension and a position of the failed pattern based on the graphic data of the parts of the upper and lower patterned layers and the arrangement of the at least one adjacent pattern.