Coloring aware optimization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10670973-B2
Application number	US-201615573832-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2016
Priority date	May 20, 2015
Publication date	Jun 2, 2020
Grant date	Jun 2, 2020

Abstract

A method includes obtaining a sub-layout having an area that is a performance limiting spot, adjusting colors of patterns in the area, and determining whether the area is still a performance limiting spot. Another method includes decomposing patterns in a design layout into multiple sub-layouts; determining for at least one area in one of the sub-layouts, the likelihood of that a figure of merit is beyond its allowed range; and if the likelihood is above a threshold, that one sub-layout has a performance limiting spot. Another method includes: obtaining a design layout having a first group of patterns and a second group of patterns, wherein colors of the first group of patterns are not allowed to change and colors of the second group of patterns are allowed to change; and co-optimizing at least the first group of patterns, the second group of patterns and an illumination of a lithographic apparatus.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
obtaining a colored design layout comprising a sub-layout comprising an area that is a performance limiting spot;
searching for a color combination of patterns in the area to make the area no longer a performance limiting spot;
responsive to no color combination being found from the searching that makes the area no longer a performance limiting spot, combining patterns in the area with at least one pattern outside the area to yield an aggregation of patterns;
adjusting, by a hardware computer system, a color of at least one pattern of the aggregation of patterns; and
subsequent to the adjusting, determining, by the hardware computer system, whether the area is still a performance limiting spot.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to a determination that the area is still a performance limiting spot; adding at least one further pattern outside the area to the aggregation of patterns.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the searching for a color combination of patterns comprises:
obtaining a set of color combinations of patterns, wherein the set of color combinations do not violate any design rules for a sub-layer;
for a respective color combination in the set, determining one or more characteristics of a lithography process using the respective color combination; and
selecting a color combination from the set based on the one or more characteristics.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the searching for a color combination of patterns comprises:
identifying a pair of patterns among patterns in the performance limiting spot; and
assigning different colors to the pair of patterns.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the design layout comprises a first group of patterns and a second group of patterns, wherein colors of the second group of patterns are not allowed to change and colors of the first group of patterns are allowed to change.

6. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions therein, the instructions, upon execution by a computer system, configured to cause the computer system to at least:
obtain a colored design layout comprising a sub-layout comprising an area that is a performance limiting spot;
search for a color combination of patterns in the area to make the area no longer a performance limiting spot;
responsive to no color combination being found from the searching that makes the area no longer a performance limiting spot, combine patterns in the area with at least one pattern outside the area to yield an aggregation of patterns;
adjusting a color of at least one pattern of the aggregation of patterns; and
subsequent to the adjustment, determine whether the area is still a performance limiting spot.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the computer system to, responsive to a determination that the area is still a performance limiting spot, add at least one further pattern outside the area to the aggregation of patterns.

8. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the computer system to search for a color combination of patterns are further configured to cause the computer system to:
obtain a set of color combinations of patterns, wherein the set of color combinations do not violate any design rules for a sub-layer;
for a respective color combination in the set, determining one or more characteristics of a lithography process using the respective color combination; and
selecting a color combination from the set based on the one or more characteristics.

9. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the computer system to search for a color combination of patterns are further configured to cause the computer system to:
identify a pair of patterns among patterns in the performance limiting spot; and
assign different colors to the pair of patterns.

10. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the design layout comprises a first group of patterns and a second group of patterns, wherein colors of the second group of patterns are not allowed to change and colors of the first group of patterns are allowed to change.

11. A method comprising:
obtaining a colored design layout comprising a sub-layout comprising an area that is a performance limiting spot;
adjusting, by a hardware computer system, a color of at least one pattern in the area, wherein the design layout comprises a first group of patterns and a second group of patterns, wherein colors of the second group of patterns are not allowed to change and colors of the first group of patterns are allowed to change; and
subsequent to the adjusting, determining, by the hardware computer system, whether the area is still a performance limiting spot.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising, responsive to a determination that the area is still a performance limiting spot, combining a pattern outside the performance limiting spot of the sub-layout with patterns in the area for evaluation in the adjusting step.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
searching for a color combination of patterns in the area, that makes the performance limiting spot no longer a performance limiting spot; and
responsive to no color combination being found that makes the performance limiting spot no longer a performance limiting spot, including at least one pattern outside the performance limiting spot of the sub-layout for evaluation in the adjusting step.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the searching for a color combination of patterns comprises:
obtaining a set of color combinations of patterns, wherein the set of color combinations do not violate any design rules for a sub-layer;
for a respective color combination in the set, determining one or more characteristics of a lithography process using the respective color combination; and
selecting a color combination from the set based on the one or more characteristics.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the searching for a color combination of patterns comprises:
identifying a pair of patterns among patterns in the performance limiting spot; and
assigning different colors to the pair of patterns.

16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions therein, the instructions, upon execution by a computer system, configured to cause the computer system to at least:
obtain a colored design layout comprising a sub-layout comprising an area that is a performance limiting spot;
adjust a color of at least one pattern in the area, wherein the design layout comprises a first group of patterns and a second group of patterns, wherein colors of the second group of patterns are not allowed to change and colors of the first group of patterns are allowed to change; and
subsequent to the adjustment, determine whether the area is still a performance limiting spot.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the computer system to, responsive to a determination that the area is still a performance limiting spot, evaluate a patterrioutside the performance limiting spot of the sub-layout as part of the adjustment.

18. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the computer system to:
search for a color combination of patterns in the area, that makes the performance limiting spot no longer

Assignees

• Asml Netherlands Bv

Inventors

• Zou Yi
• Su Jing
• Socha Robert John
• Spence Christopher Alan
• Hsu Duan-Fu Stephen

Classifications

• G03F7/70466

  Multiple exposures, e.g. combination of fine and coarse exposures, double patterning or multiple exposures for printing a single feature (stitching G03F7/70475) · CPC title

• G06T11/001

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06T7/90

  Determination of colour characteristics · CPC title

• G03F7/70433 Primary

  Layout for increasing efficiency or for compensating imaging errors, e.g. layout of exposure fields for reducing focus errors; Use of mask features for increasing efficiency or for compensating imaging errors · CPC title

• G06F30/00

  Computer-aided design [CAD] · CPC title