Investigation of DFM-lite ORC approach during OPC simulation

Abstract

In the recent year tools for DFM (Design for Manufacturing) addressing the lithographic pattern transfer like LfD have evolved besides OPC (Optical Proximity Correction) to reduce the time required from design to manufacturing along the design to mask data preparation flow. The insertion of ORC (Optical Rule Check) after OPC in a separate mask data preparation step has been commonly adopted in order to successfully meet the ever increasing need of an advanced technology node like 130nm, 90nm, 65nm and below. Separate simulation runs are normally done for both OPC and ORC and it is not unusual that different platforms (software, hardware or algorithm) are used for OPC and ORC, especially for better ORC processing throughput. An investigation has been made to look into the possibility of a DFMlite approach by inserting ORC into the OPC run on the same Calibre platform. This is accomplished by adding additional intelligence necessary to provide a 'polishing' step for a hotspot identified, without increasing the combined cycle time but having the benefit of both full OPC and partial ORC in a single simulation run.