The PIXBAR OPC for contact-hole pattern in sub-70-nm generation

KunYuan Chen; ChunCheng Liao; ShuHao Chen; Todd Wey; Phoeby Cheng; Pinjan Chou; Jochen Schacht; Dyiann Chou; Srividya Jayaram

doi:10.1117/12.813985

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12 March 2009 The PIXBAR OPC for contact-hole pattern in sub-70-nm generation

KunYuan Chen, ChunCheng Liao, ShuHao Chen, Todd Wey, Phoeby Cheng, Pinjan Chou, Jochen Schacht, Dyiann Chou, Srividya Jayaram

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Proceedings Volume 7275, Design for Manufacturability through Design-Process Integration III; 72750Z (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.813985
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2009, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

As semiconductor technologies move toward 70nm generation and below, contact-hole is one of the most challenging features to print on wafer. There are two principle difficulties in defining small contact-hole patterns on wafer. One is insufficient process margin besides poor resolution compared with line-space pattern. The other is that contact-hole should be made through pitches and random contact-hole pattern should be fabricated from time to time. PIXBAR technology is the candidate which can help improve the process margin for random contact-holes. The PIXBAR technology lithography attempts to synthesize the input mask which leads to the desired output wafer pattern by inverting the forward model from mask to wafer. This paper will use the pixel-based mask representation, a continuous function formulation, and gradient-based interactive optimization techniques to solve the problem. The result of PIXBAR method helps gain improvement in process window with a short learning cycle in contact-hole pattern assist-feature testing.

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KunYuan Chen, ChunCheng Liao, ShuHao Chen, Todd Wey, Phoeby Cheng, Pinjan Chou, Jochen Schacht, Dyiann Chou, and Srividya Jayaram "The PIXBAR OPC for contact-hole pattern in sub-70-nm generation", Proc. SPIE 7275, Design for Manufacturability through Design-Process Integration III, 72750Z (12 March 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.813985

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