System and method for varying the starting conditions for a resolution enhancement program to improve the probability that design goals will be met

1. A method for improving a manufactured integrated circuit layout that is produced in part through application of an optical proximity correction (OPC) program, comprising:

(A) providing a nominal integrated circuit layout; and

(B) for at least one feature of said layout:

i. choosing at least one critical feature quality from a set of feature qualities; and

ii. adjusting at least one starting condition of said optical proximity correction program in response to said at least one critical feature quality, said adjusted starting condition being chosen from among a set of starting conditions consisting of the feature outer tolerance, the feature inner tolerance, or the feature starting side

wherein for said at least one feature more than one critical qualities are selected and a constraint set of critical qualities is assigned to said at least one feature, and said step of choosing a critical feature quality is performed automatically by a computer program and informed by objectives and/or constraints for said manufactured IC layout.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) is performed for multiple features of said nominal layout.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein step (b) is performed for every feature of said nominal layout.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one critical feature quality is selected from a set of qualities that includes, but is not limited to, timing for setup (late paths); timing for hold (early paths); static (leakage) power; dynamic (switching) power; parametric yield for setup timing; parametric yield for hold timing; parametric yield for static power; and parametric yield for dynamic power.

5. The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of executing said RE program and producing at least one photomask whose layout is indicated by results of said RE program.

6. The method of claim 5 , further including the step of producing at least one integrated circuit from the said at least one photomask.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said critical qualities are each assigned a relative importance.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein an objective function of critical qualities is assigned to said at least one feature.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein a constraint set of critical qualities is assigned to said at least one feature.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said feature outer tolerance is set so that it is not symmetric with feature inner tolerance.

11. A system adapted to accept a nominal integrated circuit layout as an input and to execute a program producing a resolution enhanced layout based on said nominal layout and wherein said system is also adapted to accept as input at least one critical quality for at least one layout feature and to adjust at least one starting condition of said resolution enhancement program in response to said at least one critical feature quality, said adjusted starting condition being chosen from among a set of starting conditions consisting of the feature outer tolerance, the feature inner tolerance, or the feature starting side for an optical proximity correction algorithm wherein said system is adapted to accepted multiple critical qualities for each layout feature, a constraint set of critical qualities may be assigned to each said feature, and including a subsystem for automatically choosing said at least one critical quality based on manufactured IC layout design objectives and/or constraints.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein said multiple critical qualities are each assigned a relative importance.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein an objective function of critical qualities may be assigned to each of said features.