The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 29, 2019
Filed:
Feb. 04, 2014
Asml Netherlands B.v., Veldhoven, NL;
Xiaofeng Liu, Campbell, CA (US);
Rafael C. Howell, Santa Clara, CA (US);
ASML Netherlands B.V., Veldhoven, NL;
Abstract
A method for improving a lithographic process for imaging a portion of a design layout onto a substrate using a lithographic projection apparatus, the method including: calculating a discrete pupil profile based on a desired pupil profile; selecting a discrete change to the discrete pupil profile; and applying the selected discrete change to the discrete pupil profile. The methods according to various embodiments disclosed herein may reduce the computational cost of discrete optimization from O(a) to O(n) wherein a is constant and n is the number of knobs that can generate discrete change in the pupil profile.