Practical use of the repeating patterns in mask writing

In May 2006, the Mask Design, Drawing, and Inspection Technology Research Department (Mask D2I) at the Association of Super-Advanced Electronics Technologies (ASET) launched a 4-year program for reducing mask manufacturing cost and TAT by concurrent optimization of MDP, mask writing, and mask inspection [1]. As one of the tasks being pursued at the Mask Design Data Technology Research Laboratory, we have evaluated the effect of reducing the drawing shot counts by utilizing the repeating patterns, and showed positive impact on mask making by using CP drawing. During the past four years, we have developed a software to extract repeating patterns from fractured OPCed mask data which can be used to minimize the shot counts. In this evaluation, we have used an actual device production data obtained from the member companies of MaskD2I. To the extraction software we added new functions for extracting common repeating patterns from a set of multiple masks, and studied how this step can reduce the counts in comparison to the shot counts required during the conventional mask writing techniques. We have also developed software that uses the extraction result of repeating patterns and prepares drawing-data for the MCC/CP drawing system, which has been developed at the Mask Writing Equipment Technology Research Laboratory. With this software, we have simulated EB proximity effect on CP writing and examined how it affect the shot count reduction where CP shots with large CD errors are to be divided into VSB shots.