Interaction of RET and MDP: Optimization for Reducing the Mask Writing Time

As the industry is targeting the sub-100nm nodes the pressure on the data path and tapeout flow is growing. Design complexity and increased deployment of resolution enhancement techniques (RET) result in rapidly growing file sizes, which impacts the data preparation time, especially for variable-shaped beam mask writing machines. Properties of the incoming layout—hierarchy, grid and aggressiveness of the RET are the main factors. Tuning the OPC without compromising the lithographic performance while achieving the shortest processing time is the target. The study investigates the impact of OPC setup with a focus on using the functional intent of the design to influence the aggressiveness of the correction. The correlation to the performance parameters for the mask data preparation and mask writing, like run-time, file size, shot count and small figures, will be reported.