Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Toshiba Memory Corporation

Taiga Uno

Hiromitsu Mashita

Toshiya Kotani

Kazuko Yamamoto

Yukiyasu Arisawa

Sachiko Kobayashi

Koji Hashimoto

Satoshi Tanaka

Kiyomi Koyama

Masahiro Miyairi

Takashi Sato

Chikaaki Kodama

Kenji Shiraishi

Sachiyo Ito

Takashi Nakazawa

Kazuyuki Masukawa

Yasunobu Kai

Takaki Hashimoto

Hidefumi Mukai

Takafumi Taguchi

Ryota Aburada

Hirotaka Ichikawa

Katsumi Iyanagi

Yuko Kono

Hajime Aoyama

Hiroshi Yoshimura

Motohiro Okada

Yuto Takeuchi

Shuhei Sota

Kazuyuki Hino

Shinichirou Ooki

According to one embodiment, a mask pattern correction system includes the following configuration. A stress analysis circuitry divides a layout of a circuit pattern formed using a design mask formed in accordance with mask design data into correction regions, and acquires a displacement amount from the regions. A correction value calculation circuitry calculates a displacement correction value from the displacement amount. A correction map generation circuitry generates a correction map based on a correction value difference of the displacement correction values. A mask position correction circuitry allocates the regions to a layout of the circuit pattern, performs displacement correction of a mask pattern on the design mask by the displacement correction values, and creates a correction mask based on the displacement correction.

Mask pattern correction system, and semiconductor device manufacturing method utilizing said correction system

One embodiment includes: a step of evaluating an amount of flare occurring through a mask at EUV exposure; a step of providing a dummy mask pattern on the mask based on the evaluated result of the amount of flare; and a step of executing a flare correction and an optical proximity correction on a layout pattern. The layout pattern is provided by the EUV exposure through the mask with the dummy mask pattern.

Pattern generating method, pattern forming method, and pattern generating program

According to one embodiment, a method for producing a mask layout of an exposure mask for forming wiring of an integrated circuit device, includes estimating shape of the wiring formed based on an edge of a pattern included in an initial layout of the exposure mask. The method includes modifying shape of the edge if the estimated shape of the wiring does not satisfy a requirement.

Integrated circuit device, method for producing mask layout, and program for producing mask layout

In the method of correcting a mask pattern according to the embodiments, a mask pattern correction amount for a reference flare value is calculated as a reference mask correction amount, for every type of patterns within the layout, and a change amount of the mask pattern correction amount corresponding to the change amount of the flare value is calculated as the change amount information. A mask pattern corresponding to the flare value of the pattern is created based on the reference mask correction amount and the change amount information corresponding to the pattern, extracted from the information having the pattern, the reference mask correction amount, and the change amount information correlated with each other, and based on a difference between the flare value of the pattern and the reference flare value.

Method of correcting mask pattern, computer program product, and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

A flare map calculating method of an embodiment calculates an optical image intensity distribution in each division region set in a pattern region. Furthermore, an average value of the optical image intensity distribution is calculated in each division region. A pattern or plural patterns, which has a pattern density corresponding to the average value, is calculated as a corresponding density pattern in each division region. Furthermore, a density map, which represents a pattern density distribution within the pattern region, is generated based on the corresponding density pattern, and a flare map representing a flare intensity distribution within the pattern region is calculated by convolution integral of the density map and a point spread function.

Flare map calculating method and recording medium

According to one embodiment, a flare prediction method in photolithography includes determining a pattern density distribution of a pattern layout, determining an inclination of a variation in the pattern density distribution, and performing a flare calculation in a plurality of partition sizes based on the inclination of a variation in the pattern density distribution.

Flare prediction method, photomask manufacturing method, semiconductor device manufacturing method, and computer-readable medium

In a flare value calculation method according to an embodiment, an average optical intensity is calculated for each of mask patterns in a case where an exposure process is performed on a substrate using the mask patterns. Then, pattern correction amounts for the mask patterns corresponding to the average optical intensity and information about the dimensions of the mask patterns are calculated for each mask pattern. Then, post-correction mask patterns are prepared by performing pattern correction on each of the mask patterns using the pattern correction amount. Then, a flare value of an optical system of an exposure apparatus is calculated using a pattern average density of the post-correction mask patterns.

Flare value calculation method, flare correction method, and computer program product

A pattern data creating method comprising: referring to a first correspondence relation between an amount of dimension variation between a first pattern formed on a substrate and a second pattern formed by processing the substrate using the first pattern and either one of a pattern total surface area and a pattern boundary length of the first pattern; and creating pattern data for forming the first pattern.

Creating mask data of integrated circuit patterns using calculated etching conversion difference

A method of correcting a flare comprising: calculating a distribution of a flare value corresponding to pattern data on the pattern data as a flare map; calculating an occupancy of a pattern having a predetermined flare value on the pattern data as a flare value occupancy for each flare value, by using the flare map; determining a reference flare value to be a reference of the flare value based on the distribution of the flare value occupancy; and performing a pattern correction corresponding to the flare value with a pattern correction amount at the reference flare value as a reference.

Method of correcting a flare and computer program product

A pattern of exposure mask-use design data having a hierarchical structure is corrected in order to finish with fidelity a transfer pattern to be formed on a wafer, in which if the exposure apparatus has a light source shape that does not have rotation symmetry at any given angle around an optical axis, as the center, of an illumination optics or a projection optics, a cell A rotated in arrangement in input data having a hierarchical structure is replaced with a cell A&prime; not employing rotation and then optical proximity correction is effected.

Pattern correcting method and pattern verifying method

A correction target segment extracted from the design pattern is divided into lengths suited for correction. If the arrangement of the divided segments is a one-dimensional pattern, a correction value is obtained by conducting a one-dimensional process simulation to an arrangement within a predetermined distance from a divided segment in perpendicular direction. If the arrangement of the divided segments is a two-dimensional pattern, a correction value is obtained by two-dimensionally extracting a pattern included in a rectangular region having a predetermined distance from one point on the divided segment in perpendicular and horizontal directions and by conducting a two-dimensional process simulation to the extracted pattern.

Mask data design method

In a Levenson photomask design method of partially forming a plurality of opening patterns for passing incident light in a light-shielding film for shielding the incident light, and arranging, on some patterns, phase shifters, line segment pairs of different patterns which are adjacent to each other within a predetermined distance R are extracted in units of line segments obtained by dividing the patterns. A pattern within a predetermined distance S from the central point of the opposite region of a line segment pair of interest in a direction perpendicular to the line segments is obtained. The obtained pattern is subjected to a process simulation to obtain resolution easiness representing the easiness in resolving the adjacent patterns. On the basis of the resolution easiness obtained for the adjacent pattern pair within the distance R, a phase shifter is arranged in ascending order of resolution easiness to give a phase difference. Resolution suitable for the exposure condition used can be obtained by a simple method. When the shifter arrangement is determined in consideration of the resolution easiness, a high-resolution shifter arrangement can be realized for a Levenson phase shift mask.

Method for designing Levenson photomask

A method for designing a photomask, used in photolithography using partially coherent incident light, the photomask having a substrate on which a plurality of transparent regions and opaque regions are formed, the transparent regions including a phase shifter for providing the incident light transmitting through the transparent regions with a phase difference, the method comprising the steps of extracting combinations of patterns adjacent to each other within a distance of a threshold value S2 as adjacent pairs from patterns corresponding to the transparent regions, calculating difficulty of correction of the adjacent pairs, sorting the adjacent pairs in an descending order of the difficulty of correction, connecting the patterns in the adjacent pairs to one another, such that a pair of adjacent patterns are not connected to each other and loop cut is performed if a closed loop is formed by connecting the adjacent patterns, and a pair of adjacent patterns are logically connected if a closed loop is not formed by connecting the adjacent patterns, and determining phases of light transmitted through the patterns, so that a phase of one of a pair of patterns is opposite to that of the other, on the basis of an inversion relationship finally obtained by the connecting step.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Taiga Uno