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:
Feb. 27, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 05, 1999
Tower Semiconductor Ltd., Migdal Haemek, IL;
Abstract
A method of fitting a reticle pattern on a reticle, wherein the reticle pattern has dimensions that exceed the dimension of the reticle. The method includes the step of logically dividing the reticle pattern into a first window and a second window, wherein the first window and the second window overlap in a shared window region. The first and second windows are selected such that these separate windows are capable of being laid out within the dimensions of the reticle. The first window of the reticle pattern is converted from a first format, such as GDS or CIF, to a second format, such as MEBES, thereby creating a converted first window. The second window of the reticle pattern is also converted from the first format to the second format, thereby creating a converted second window. In one embodiment, resizing is performed during this conversion process. The resizing is restricted to one axis in the shared window region, thereby preventing alignment problems in a subsequent stitching process. The converted first and second windows are laid out on the reticle, such that these windows are separated from each other on the reticle. The first and second converted windows are then stitched together at the shared window region using a photolithographic stitching process, thereby forming the reticle pattern on a wafer.