Dividing lithography exposure fields to improve semiconductor fabrication

1. A method for determining one or more exposure areas and associated lithography process parameters for the one or more exposure areas in a reticle field, the method comprising:

receiving, using one or more computing devices, a semiconductor design and sending, using one or more computing devices, the semiconductor design to a design analysis program;

receiving, using one or more computing devices, data from the design analysis program; and

determining, using one or more computing devices, one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, and at least one lithography process parameter for each of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field based, at least in part, on the data received from the design analysis program, the semiconductor design, and one or more clustering algorithms associated with the design analysis program.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the design analysis program includes at least one of the following programs: a pattern matching program, an overlay error program, a shorts and opens program, a thin film stress program, a metal density analysis program, a parallel wiring analysis program, and an empirical data analysis program.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises:

retrieving pattern matching data; and

determining, based, in part, on the pattern matching data and a pre-set number of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, one or more shutter locations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining at least one lithography process parameter for one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises:

identifying a dominant pattern in each of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field; and

retrieving the at least one lithography process parameter for the identified dominant pattern in said each of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field from a database, wherein the database stores one or more patterns each associated with at least one lithography process parameter.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining at least one lithography process parameter includes retrieving the at least one lithography process parameter optimized for the identified dominant pattern.

6. The method in claim 1 , wherein the determining one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises:

inserting, into both reticles of a split reticle design, a chrome border between the one or more exposure areas;

determining, in an exposure area of two adjoining exposure areas of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, an area where a color in an area adjoining the chrome border in the exposure area of two adjoining exposure areas is changed in a circuit element crossing the chrome border;

reverting, in the exposure area of the two adjoining exposure areas, the changed color in the area adjoining the chrome border to an original color of the changed color in an area adjoining the changed color in the circuit element crossing the chrome border;

determining an overlap area based, at least in part, on one or more lithography tooling tolerances and a safety factor;

determining an additional length for circuit elements crossing the chrome border between the two adjoining exposure areas whose size is at least twice as that of the determined overlap area; and

inserting, in the exposure area of the two adjoining exposure areas of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, the additional length for circuit elements crossing the chrome border between the two adjoining exposure areas of the one or more exposure areas.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining, based at least in part on the overlap area, at least two areas in the circuit element crossing the chrome border are overlapped, wherein the additional length of the circuit elements is in the circuit element.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprises inserting an overlay alignment mark to each of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, wherein a location of the overlay alignment mark is determined based on data received from the design analysis program and the one or more clustering algorithms associated with the design analysis program.

9. A computer program product comprising

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media on which program instructions are stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media, the program instructions, when executed by one or more computer processor, cause said one or more computer processors to determine one or more exposure areas and associates lithography processor parameters for the one or more exposure areas in a reticle field, the program instructions comprising:

program instructions to receive a semiconductor design and send the semiconductor design to a design analysis program;

program instructions to receive data from the design analysis program; and

program instructions to determine the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, and at least one lithography process parameter for each of the one or more exposure areas each in the reticle field based, at least in part, on the data received from the design analysis program, the semiconductor design, and one or more clustering algorithms associated with the design analysis program.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the design analysis program includes at least one of the following programs: a pattern matching program, an overlay error program, a shorts and opens program, a thin film stress program, a metal density analysis program, a parallel wiring analysis program, and an empirical data analysis program.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the program instructions to determine the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises:

program instructions to retrieve pattern matching data; and

program instructions to determine, based in part on the pattern matching data and a pre-set number of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, one or more shutter locations.

12. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the program instructions to determine at least one lithography process for each exposure area of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises:

program instructions to identify a dominant pattern in each exposure area of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field; and

program instructions to retrieve the at least one lithography process parameter for the identified dominant pattern in the reticle field from a database, wherein the database stores one or more patterns each associated with at least one lithography process parameter.

13. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein the program instructions to determine the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises:

program instructions to insert, into both reticles of a split reticle design, a chrome border between the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field;

program instructions to determine, in an exposure area of two adjoining exposure areas of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, an area where a color in an area adjoining the chrome border is the exposure area of the two adjoining exposure areas is changed in a circuit element crossing the chrome border;

program instructions to revert, in the exposure area of the two adjoining exposure areas, the changed color in the area adjoining the chrome border to an original color of the changed color in an area adjoining the changed color in the circuit element crossing the chrome border

program instructions to determine an overlap area based, at least in part, on one or more lithography tooling tolerances and a safety factor;

program instructions to determine an additional length for circuit elements crossing the chrome border between the two adjoining exposure areas of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field whose size is at least twice as that of the determined overlap area; and

program instructions to insert, in the exposure area the two adjoining exposure areas, the additional length of the one or more exposures in the reticle field, the additional length for circuit elements crossing the chrome border between the adjoining exposure area of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising the program instructions to determining, based at least in part on the overlap area, at least two areas in the circuit element crossing the chrome border are overlapped, wherein the additional length of the circuit elements is in the circuit element.

15. The computer program product of claim 9 , further comprising:

program instructions to insert an overlay alignment mark to each exposure area of the one or more exposure areas, wherein a location of the overlay alignment mark is determined based on data received from the design analysis program and the one or more clustering algorithms associated with the design analysis program.

16. A computer system for determining one or more exposure areas and associated lithography process parameters for the one or more exposure areas in a reticle field, the computer system comprising:

one or more computer processors;

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media;

program instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors, the program instructions comprising:

program instructions to receive a semiconductor design and send the semiconductor design to a design analysis program;

program instructions to receive data from the design analysis program; and

program instructions to determine the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, and at least one lithography process parameter for each of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field based at least in part on the data received from the design analysis program, the semiconductor design, and one or more clustering algorithms associated with the design analysis program.

17. The computer system of claim 16 , wherein the design analysis program includes at least one of the following programs: a pattern matching program, an overlay error program, a shorts and opens program, a thin film stress program, a metal density analysis program, a parallel wiring analysis program, and an empirical data analysis program.

18. The computer system of claim 16 , wherein the program instructions to determine the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises:

program instructions to retrieve pattern matching data; and

program instructions to determine, based in part on the pattern matching data and a pre-set number of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, one or more shutter locations.

19. The computer system of claim 16 , wherein the program instructions to determine at least one lithography process parameter for each exposure of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field further comprises program instructions to identify a dominant pattern in each exposure area of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field; and

program instructions to retrieve at least one lithography process parameter for the identified dominant pattern from a database, wherein the database stores one or more patterns each associated with at least one lithography process parameter.

20. The computer system of claim 16 , further comprising:

program instructions to insert an overlay alignment mark to each exposure area of the one or more exposure areas in the reticle field, wherein a location of the overlay alignment mark is determined based on data received from the design analysis program and the one or more clustering algorithms associated with the design analysis program.