Suppressing rippling with minimized corner rounding through OPC fragmentation optimization

Jingyu Wang; Alexander Wei; William Wilkinson; Norman Chen

doi:10.1117/12.2241409

5 October 2016 Suppressing rippling with minimized corner rounding through OPC fragmentation optimization

Jingyu Wang, Alexander Wei, William Wilkinson, Norman Chen

Proceedings Volume 9985, Photomask Technology 2016; 998528 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2241409
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology, 2016, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

As technology shrinks, the requirements placed on the post-OPC solution become so exacting that even small residual optical effects are significant. Simultaneously minimizing rippling and corner rounding cannot be accom- plished in parallel in wafer patterning especially when complex asymmetric pixelated sources are used. While either effect can be moderated by accurate application of optical proximity correction, they are both charac- teristic of unfiltered diffraction due to asymmetric illumination or design geometry and will remain inherent. Corrections that over emphasize reduced corner-rounding necessarily sacrifice edge convergence, resulting in a standing wave or unacceptable rippling along an entire edge. OPC can be used to reduce the magnitude of this rippling, but fragment placing is extremely critical. In this paper, we discuss optimized OPC fragmentation that offers balanced consideration to suppressing rippling and minimizing corner rounding. Specifically, we correlate design shapes with simulated post-OPC contours to account for design geometry-dependent rippling signature given existing illumination conditions. In contrast to adaptive fragmentation that relies on multiple iterations of simulation of intensity extrema redistribution, our method predicts the optimum contour as allowed by process and fragments the mask accordingly. The maximum imaging curvature resolvable by process coupled with the rippling signature, gives rise to the exact locations of the inflection points of the wafer contour. From there we achieve the best correction results by segmenting edges at the inflection points.

Citation Download Citation

Jingyu Wang, Alexander Wei, William Wilkinson, and Norman Chen "Suppressing rippling with minimized corner rounding through OPC fragmentation optimization", Proc. SPIE 9985, Photomask Technology 2016, 998528 (5 October 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2241409

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