International Business Machines Corporation

Samit Barai

Alan Edward Rosenbluth

Various embodiments include approaches for calibrating a model for a lithographic printing process. Some embodiments include a computer-implemented method for calibrating a model for a lithographic printing process. Some approaches include: identifying parameters for a model of the lithographic printing process; assembling a population of design content including potentially printable features that can be printed by the lithographic printing process; preparing at least one matrix expressing a similarity between the potentially printable features in terms of the parameters for the model; determining a manifold of smaller dimensionality than the parameters for the model which exhibit maximum variation in similarity within the at least one matrix; and selecting a sample dataset of the potentially printable features from the manifold.

Printing process calibration and correction

A marker layer is placed in regions of a design layout in which an image slope is less than a critical image slope or a perimeter to area ratio is less than a critical perimeter to area ratio. Multiple optical proximity correction (OPC) can be generated by grouping subsets of process conditions at which error mean and/or error root-mean-square (RMS) exceed threshold values. Regions marked with the marker layer are processed with a rigorous OPC employing at least one non-standard resist model, while unmarked regions of the layout are processes with a standard OPC program that is less rigorous than the at least one non-standard resist model. Additionally, number of edges and areal image contrast can be compared among layout clips to determine threshold values for the number of edges and the areal image contrast, which can be employed to determine if multiple OPC is needed for each layout clip.

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Bengaluru, India

Samit Barai