Pattern matching seems to be promising technique to the mask industry. It can be used for many applications such as hot
spot detection of post-OPC data, search of AIMS reference location or CDSEM measurement point extraction. In particular,
fuzzy pattern matching is more needed for mask data processing because the mask layout has different derivatives generated
by OPC and there are many similar "OPC brothers" that come from the same layout. However, application of fuzzy pattern
matching to the mask layout is challenging due to the reasons related to the characteristics of photomask data.
In this paper we introduce a novel method of fuzzy pattern matching to cope with the issues that comes from the
characteristics of mask data. The rule specification is quite simple - we only need to specify a single tolerance value for each
edge displacement. We will show the experimental results using the actual mask layout and prove that the calculation speed
and quality of the proposed technique is satisfactory from the view point of realistic MDP processing.
In order to go through the transition term from GDSII to OASIS successfully, the aid of the verification tools between
OASIS and GDSII is necessary. In general, we have two methods of OASIS file verification. One is a hierarchical method
that checks between GDSII and OASIS by each cell level. The other is a flat method that merges each pattern through its
hierarchy into a flat level and compares the flattened geometry one by one.
We did the experiments of comparison between two methods for OASIS to GDSII verification. The software tool called
'ogdiff' has been used for a hierarchical verification experiment. We used SmartMRC for the flat method experiment. In this
paper, we show the experimental results of comparison and we also address the pros and cons of each method. Then we
suggest which method is preferable for specific cases.
Association of Super-Advanced Electronics Technologies (ASET) has started a project called "Mask Design, Drawing
and Inspection Technology (MaskD2I)" with the sponsorship from The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) since 2006. SIINT has joined the MaskD2I project and we have been developing MRC software considering DFM information for more effective data verification. By converting design level information
called as "Design Intent" to the priority information of mask manufacturing data called as "Mask Data Rank (MDR)", the
MRC process based on the importance of reticle patterns is possible. Our main purpose is to build a novel data checking
flow with the priority information of mask patterns extracted from the design intent. In this paper, we address the effectiveness of MRC technologies which have been widely applied in many mask data
fields. Then we present the current status of the new MRC development, its experimental results so far and the future
outlook using further Design Aware Manufacturing (DAM) information.
KEYWORDS: Data conversion, Photomasks, Data analysis, Error analysis, Standards development, Electronic design automation, Nanotechnology, Data processing, Data compression
The OASIS (Open Artwork System Interchange Standard) format is a new standard format for describing LSI layout data
and it has begun to be used for photomask data. One of the greatest features of OASIS format is its conciseness of
expressing pattern data and it has been proven that the size of GDS2 files can be significantly reduced down by converting
them to OASIS format. It is widely believed that OASIS will replace the position of GDS2 format which is currently most
frequently used. In general, OASIS has two aspects for the mask industry. One is OASIS format as a new replacement of
GDS2. The other is OASIS.VSB, which is a unified format to be defined for the description of fractured EB data.
However, the mask industry has not shifted completely into OASIS and sometimes software operation for both OASIS
and GDS2 is required. In the environment of OASIS and GDS2 mixture, bi-directional data conversion between OASIS
and GDS2 is a key issue. When GDS2 data is converted to OASIS format, the file size always gets smaller and there is no
file size problem. But when OASIS data is converted to GDS2 format, the file size can be more than one hundred times
larger than the OASIS file, which sometimes causes hard disk space problems.
In order to cope with this problem, we have developed a file size estimation tool for OASIS to GDS2 conversion. The
name of the tool is "o2gest" and it is a member of SmartOASIS, which provides comprehensive practical functions to
enable easy transition of data processing flow from conventional GDS2 or EB formats to OASIS. The processing speed and
the calculation accuracy is a key issue for an estimation tool.
OASIS format has begun to be accepted in the field of mask data processing gradually. Major EDA venders have announced their support of OASIS format and new versions of EDA tools which can handle with OASIS files have been shipped one by one. Still, there are great difficulties to convert all the data processing flow from old GDSII to new OASIS. One of the major issues is a problem of verification. Since all the tools have not been completely stable and reliable, there should be a method to verify whether the data is converted to OASIS without any problems. In addition to that, the integrity of the OASIS files itself have to be checked.
In general, OASIS has two aspects for the mask industry. One is a role as a new replacement of GDSII. The other is OASIS.VSB, which is a unified format defined for the description of fractured EB data. SII NanoTechnology has been developing a new software package called SmartOASIS. SmartOASIS provides lots of practical functions to enable easy transition of data processing flow from conventional GDSII or EB formats to OASIS.
As patterns on photomasks are getting more complex due to RET technologies, mask rule check (MRC) has become an essential process before manufacturing photomasks. Design rule check (DRC) tools in the EDA field can be applied for MRC. However, photomask data has unique characteristics different from IC design, which causes many problems when handling photomask data in the same way as the design data.
In this paper, we introduce a novel MRC tool, SmartMRC, which has been developed by SII NanoTechnology in order to solve these problems and show the experimental results performed by DNP. We have achieved high performance of data processing by optimizing the software engine to make the best use of mask data's characteristics. The experimental results show that only a little difference has been seen in calculation time for reversed pattern data compared to non-reversed data. Furthermore, the MRC tool can deal with various types of photomask data and Jobdec in the same transparent way by reading them directly without any intermediate data conversion, which helps to reduce the overhead time. Lastly it has been proven that result OASIS files are several times smaller than GDS files.
KEYWORDS: Parallel processing, Photomasks, Image compression, Process control, Local area networks, Intellectual property, Data storage, Algorithm development, Control systems, Image processing
We have been developing intellectual properties (IP) protection software using OASIS format. In the Photomask Technology 2004 we presented that by taking advantage of repetition presentation of OASIS, it becomes possible to express arrayed patterns without any generation of new cells, which also brings less overhead and further compaction of the result file. As a result, we could rebuild the hierarchy without cell generation and reduce the output file size. In this paper, additionally we have applied a unique compression function CBLOCK defined in OASIS format. CBLOCK can compress any part of OASIS file. The experimental results show that there are no redundant cells generated and the file size has become approximately 20 times smaller than conventional methods.
KEYWORDS: Parallel processing, Data storage, Process control, Local area networks, Software development, Control systems, Nanotechnology, Photomask technology, Computing systems, Environmental sensing
In this paper we present new development of intellectual properties(IP) protection software using OASIS format. By taking advantage of repetition presentation of OASIS, it becomes possible to express arrayed patterns without any generation of new cells, which also brings less overhead and further compaction of the result file. As a result, we could rebuild the hierarchy without cell generation and reduce the output file size. The experimental results show that there are no redundant cells generated and the file size has become 5 to 8 times smaller than conventional methods.
The contact layer has been said to be the first application of NGL technologies such as EPL or LEEPL, in which stencil masks are used. Since the computation time depends on the number of edges of patterns, contact layer data which contains many rectangles takes very long time to process. Actually it has been reported that the complementary split of the contact layer patterns take longer time than any other layer like metal layer or poly line layer due to the numerous small rectangle patterns in the contact layer. This paper presents a new innovative algorithm, called gravity point method, to dispatch contact patterns very quickly onto complementary masks. The results show that the new gravity point method algorithm is effective for the huge size of contact layer data.
KEYWORDS: Data conversion, Photomasks, Parallel processing, Reticles, Electronic design automation, Local area networks, Data modeling, Electron beams, Optical lithography, Manufacturing
EPLON is the name of a system that we have been developing as a data conversion system for EPL masks in order to meet the requirements of EPL stencil masks. In our paper we presented in PMJ2002, we proved that our system could convert the whole chip data. However we still had some problems to overcome, one of which is a problem of conversion time and another issue is a data volume problem. This paper presents the features of our multi process computation method and the data compaction with building a hierarchy from the flattened data.
We have developed the EPL mask data conversion system EPLON. It provides comprehensive capabilities necessary for the data conversion of EPL masks. This paper presents the features of each function and the evaluation result of data conversion with actual data on a full chip level. The result shows that the whole data conversion is possible within reasonable time for huge data. We also propose a new format for describing EPL mask data to deal with the huge size of EPL mask data after conversion. The format is called the EPLM format and it contains one main file and multiple subfield files.
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