Method and apparatus for inspecting element layout in semiconductor device

1 . A layout inspection method for inspecting the layout of a plurality of elements included in a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

setting paired layout inspection requirements including at least an element interval at which a paired layout is enabled;

inspecting whether or not the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout satisfy the paired layout inspection requirements;

setting a search area for each of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout; and

extracting figures included in the search areas of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout and inspecting whether or not the extracted figures of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout are congruent to each other.

2 . The layout inspection method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting elements from layout data of the semiconductor device before said setting of the inspection requirements and storing shapes and coordinate values of the detected elements;

wherein said inspecting includes selectively inspecting the elements detected from the layout data.

3 . The layout inspection method according to claim 2 , further comprising:

generating and storing connection information extracted from the layout data for the detected elements; and

comparing the connection information with a netlist of the semiconductor device to determine element names of the detected elements.

4 . The layout inspection method according to claim 1 , wherein the setting of the search area includes enlarging the figures extracted for inspection in accordance with a set value.

5 . The layout inspection method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of elements include a first element and a second element, each element having a plurality of components, and when said extracting figures determines that the shapes are different, the method further comprising:

generating a figure of the first element that has been inverted and/or rotated by executing at least one of:

inverting at least one of the components included in the first element about a predetermined axis extending across the first element; and

rotating the at least one component about an axis perpendicular to the first element by a predetermined angle; and

inspecting whether or not the figure of the first element that has been inverted and/or rotated has a shape that is congruent to that of a figure of the second element.

6 . The layout inspection method according to claim 2 , wherein the layout data contains data for a plurality of mask layers corresponding to a manufacturing process for the semiconductor device, and the search area is set for each of the mask layers.

7 . The layout inspection method according to claim 1 , wherein said extracting figures includes:

setting a predetermined position in the corresponding search area as the origin for each element;

converting the coordinate values of each element into coordinates based on the origin; and

comparing the shapes of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout by using the coordinate values after the conversion.

8 . The layout inspection method according to claim 1 , wherein said extracting figures includes:

setting a predetermined position of each search area as the origin;

converting the coordinate values of a plurality of figures forming each element into coordinates based on the origin; and

comparing the shapes of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout by using the converted coordinate values of the plurality of figures after the conversion.

9 . The layout inspection method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying an error message when the comparison result of the figures indicates a mismatch.

10 . A layout inspection apparatus for inspecting the layout of a plurality of elements included in a semiconductor device, the apparatus comprising:

a processing circuit programmed to:

set paired layout inspection requirements including at least an element interval at which a paired layout is enabled;

inspect whether or not the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout satisfy the paired layout inspection requirements;

set a search area for each of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout;

extract figures included in the search areas of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout; and

inspect whether or not the extracted figures of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout are congruent to each other; and

a memory device, connected to the processing circuit, for holding the paired layout inspection requirements.

11 . The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuit is programmed to detect elements from layout data of the semiconductor device before said setting of the inspection requirements and storing shapes and coordinate values of the detected elements in the memory device, and the inspecting includes selectively inspecting the elements detected from the layout data.

12 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the processing circuit is programmed to:

generate connection information extracted from the layout data for the detected elements and stores the connection information in the memory device; and

compare the connection information with a netlist of the semiconductor device to determine element names of the detected elements.

13 . The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuit is programmed to enlarge the figures extracted for inspection in accordance with a set value when setting the search area.

14 . The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the plurality of elements include a first element and a second element, each element having a plurality of components, and when determining that the shapes are different during the inspecting, the processing circuit is programmed to:

generate a figure of the first element that has been inverted and/or rotated by executing at least one of:

inverting at least one of the components included in the first element about a predetermined axis extending across the first element; and

rotating the at least one component about an axis perpendicular to the first element by a predetermined angle; and

inspect whether or not the figure of the first element that has been inverted and/or rotated has a shape that is congruent to that of a figure of the second element.

15 . The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the layout data contains data for a plurality of mask layers corresponding to a manufacturing process for the semiconductor device, and the processing circuit is programmed to set the search area for each of the mask layers.

16 . The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuit is programmed to:

set a predetermined position in the corresponding search area as the origin for each element;

convert the coordinate values of each element into coordinates based on the origin; and

compare the shapes of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout by using the coordinate values after the conversion.

17 . The apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the processing circuit is programmed to:

set a predetermined position of each search area as the origin;

convert the coordinate values of a plurality of figures forming each element into coordinates based on the origin; and

compare the shapes of the elements that are to be inspected for paired layout by using the converted coordinate values of the plurality of figures after the conversion.

18 . The apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising:

a display device for displaying an error message when the comparison result of the figures indicates a mismatch.