Method for determining patterning device pattern based on manufacturability
A method for determining a patterning device pattern. The method includes obtaining (i) an initial patterning device pattern having at least one feature, and (ii) a desired feature size of the at least one feature, obtaining, based on a patterning process model, the initial patterning device pattern and a target pattern for a substrate, a difference value between a predicted pattern of the substrate image by the initial patterning device and the target pattern for the substrate, determining a penalty value related the manufacturability of the at least one feature, wherein the penalty value varies as a function of the size of the at least one feature, and determining the patterning device pattern based on the initial patterning device pattern and the desired feature size such that a sum of the difference value and the penalty value is reduced.
1. A method for determining a patterning device pattern, the method comprising:
obtaining an initial patterning device pattern having at least one feature;
applying a blob detection to the initial patterning device pattern; and
determining, using a cost function based on a result of the blob detection, the patterning device pattern.
2. A non-transitory computer program product comprising machine-readable instructions therein, the instructions configured to cause a processor system to at least:
obtain an initial patterning device pattern having at least one feature;
apply a blob detection to the initial patterning device pattern; and
determine, using a cost function based on a result of the blob detection, the patterning device pattern.
3. The computer program product of claim 2 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the processor system to determine the patterning device pattern are configured to determine patterning device pattern in an iterative process, an iteration comprising:
modification of a size of the at least one feature of the initial patterning device pattern; and
determination of a penalty value corresponding to the modified size of the at least one feature.
4. The computer program product of claim 2 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the processor system to apply the blob detection and determine the patterning device pattern are further configured to cause the processor system to:
detect a pattern of the initial patterning device pattern having features with sizes around one or more desired feature sizes;
compute a binarized pattern of the detected pattern using a binarization function, the binarization function classifies features whose size fall in a given interval of the one or more desired feature sizes; and
determine a penalty of the cost function based on a combination of the detected pattern and the binarized pattern, wherein the combination includes features of varying sizes.
5. The computer program product of claim 2 , wherein the initial patterning device pattern or the patterning device pattern is a curvilinear pattern.
6. The computer program product of claim 2 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the processor system to determine the patterning device pattern are further configured to determine optical proximity corrections comprising a placement of assist features and/or contour modification.
7. The computer program product of claim 2 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the processor system to apply the blob detection are further configured to convolve a kernel having a characteristic modulation distance with a pixelated image of the initial patterning device pattern, wherein the characteristic modulation distance corresponds to a range of value around a signal of the pixelated image.
8. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the signal is related to an intensity of a pixel of the pixelated image.
9. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the characteristic modulation distance is set to one or more desired feature sizes.
10. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the kernel is a Laplacian-of-Gaussian or a difference-of-Gaussian function.
11. A non-transitory computer program product comprising machine-readable instructions therein, the instructions configured to cause a processor system to at least:
obtain a pixelated patterning device pattern image;
convolve a kernel having a characteristic modulation distance with the pixelated patterning device pattern image, wherein the characteristic modulation distance corresponds to a range of value around a signal of the pixelated image; and
determine, using a cost function based on a result of the convolution, a patterning device pattern.
12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the cost function has a penalty related to manufacturability of at least one feature of the patterning device pattern.
13. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the characteristic modulation distance is related to one or more desired feature sizes.
14. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the kernel is a Laplacian-of-Gaussian or a difference-of-Gaussian function.
15. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the signal is related to an intensity of a pixel of the pixelated image.
16. A non-transitory computer program product comprising machine-readable instructions therein, the instructions configured to cause a processor system to at least:
detect a pattern of a patterning device pattern having features with sizes around one or more desired feature sizes;
compute a binarized pattern of the detected pattern using a binarization function, the binarization function classifies features whose size fall in a given interval of the desired feature size; and
modify, using a cost function based on a result of the computation, the patterning device pattern.
17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the cost function has a penalty related to manufacturability of at least one feature of the patterning device pattern.
18. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the instructions configured to cause the processor system to detect the pattern are further configured to convolve a kernel having a characteristic modulation distance with a pixelated image of the patterning device pattern, wherein the characteristic modulation distance corresponds to a range of value around a signal of the pixelated image.
19. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the signal is related to an intensity of a pixel of the pixelated image.
20. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the patterning device pattern is a curvilinear pattern.