Inventors:
Saeed Bagheri - Croton on Hudson NY, US
Francisco Barahona - White Plains NY, US
Laszlo Ladanyi - Peekskill NY, US
Jonathan Lee - Yorktown Heights NY, US
David O. Melville - New York NY, US
Alan E. Rosenbluth - Yorktown Heights NY, US
Daniele P. Scarpazza - Dobbs Ferry NY, US
Marc A. Szeto-Millstone - Seattle WA, US
Kehan Tian - Poughkeepsie NY, US
Andreas Waechter - New York NY, US
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation - Armonk NY
International Classification:
G06F 17/50
US Classification:
716 51, 716 50, 716 52, 716 53, 716 54, 716 55
Abstract:
A method for obtaining mask and source patterns for printing integrated circuit patterns includes providing initial representations of a plurality of mask and source patterns. The method identifies long-range and short-range factors in the representations of the plurality of mask and source patterns, and provides a plurality of clips including a specified number of mask patterns. Short-range factors having overlapping ranges for each of the clips are specified. The method includes determining an initial processing priority for the plurality of clips, and determining a patterning relationship between integrated circuit patterns and the mask and source patterns. A primary objective is determined which expresses the printability of the integrated circuit patterns in terms of the patterning relationship. The method defines and iteratively solves a master problem employing the primary objective to generate values for the long-range factors, and solves subproblems employing a second objective for generating values for the short-range factors.