Photolithography reticle design
US6818362B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 19, 2004 |
| Grant date | Nov 16, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 19, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03F1/68
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method of generating a design of a reticle for a photolithography process. The reticle may include phase shift features, binary features, and mixed features. The method includes generating a reticle design from a pattern layout and then optimizing the reticle design. In some examples, generating the reticle design includes binning the features of the layout based on feature width. Examples of optimization operations include an over/under operation, an under/over operation, a feature segment expansion operation, a feature edge portion conversation from a binary portion to a phase shift portion, a corner binary segment expansion, a discontinuity removal operation, and a feature dimension change operation that includes a determination of a Mask Error Factor (MEF).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.