Mask rule checking for curved masks used in electronic circuits

Abstract

A system for performing mask rule checking (MRC) on curved shapes. The width of the curved shape varies along different portions of the shape. A median axis of the curved shape is determined. The median axis is trimmed to exclude portions that are within a threshold distance from a corner or too far from an edge. The trimmed median axis is used to perform a width check of the mask rule. The system generates median axes between geometric shapes and uses the median axes to determine whether two geometric shapes are at least a threshold distance apart. The system performs sharp angle checking on sharp corners. The system determines angles using lines drawn from vertices to endpoints on the shape's boundary, the endpoints being at a threshold distance. These angles are used to check for sharp angle mask rule violations.

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