Graph correction method

Abstract

A graphic correction method, comprising: providing an initial layout, the initial layout comprising a plurality of design graphics; obtaining a plurality of special graphics in the plurality of design graphics; dividing the initial layout into a plurality of first blocks, the adjacent first blocks having a boundary line; obtaining a plurality of cross-region graphics in the plurality of special graphics, the plurality of cross-region graphics having an overlap with the boundary line; splitting the initial layout into a partitioned layout and a cross-region layout, the cross-region layout comprising the plurality of cross-region graphics, the partitioned layout comprising a plurality of partitioned graphics, the plurality of partitioned graphics being the design graphics in the initial layout except the plurality of cross-region graphics; obtaining a partitioned corrected layout and a cross-region corrected layout by correcting the partitioned layout through a plurality of first clients and correcting the cross-region layout through a second client; and performing a merging process on the plurality of cross-region corrected layouts and the partitioned corrected layout to obtain a target layout, which has less impact on the operation time and improves the accuracy of the layout correction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and in particular to a pattern correction method. Background Technology

[0002] Photolithography is a crucial technology in semiconductor manufacturing. It transfers patterns from a photomask to the surface of a silicon wafer, forming semiconductor products that meet design requirements. The photolithography process includes an exposure step, a development step following exposure, and an etching step following development.

[0003] In semiconductor manufacturing, as design dimensions continue to shrink, the optical proximity effect (OPE) caused by the exposure system becomes increasingly pronounced. To address this, optical proximity correction (OPC) is employed to correct errors in the photolithography process. This involves pre-processing the photomask before photolithography to achieve pre-correction, ensuring that the amount of correction and compensation precisely compensates for the OPE caused by the exposure system. The photomask fabricated from the OPC-corrected wafer pattern, after photolithography, will produce the desired target pattern on the wafer.

[0004] As the feature size of integrated circuits continues to shrink, full-chip optical correction has become an indispensable step in chip mask manufacturing, and optical proximity correction has become a very time-consuming and resource-intensive task. Because optical proximity correction employs complex and precise computational models, the number of masks in each layer can reach billions, and each pattern needs correction, making it difficult to complete on a single machine. The tile-based optical proximity correction method divides the physical layout into several small tiles based on their location, and distributes the pattern correction tasks within each tile to multiple remote clients. These clients can work in parallel, thereby greatly improving the running speed.

[0005] However, existing tile-based optical proximity correction methods still need further improvement. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The technical problem solved by this invention is to provide a pattern correction method that improves the accuracy of mask pattern correction while increasing the running speed.

[0007] To address the aforementioned problems, the present invention provides a graphic correction method, comprising: providing an initial layout, the initial layout including a plurality of design graphics; obtaining a plurality of special graphics from the plurality of design graphics; dividing the initial layout into a plurality of first blocks, with boundary lines between adjacent first blocks; obtaining a plurality of cross-block graphics that overlap with the boundary lines from the plurality of special graphics; splitting the initial layout into a partitioned layout and a cross-blocked layout, the cross-blocked layout including the plurality of cross-block graphics, the partitioned layout including a plurality of partitioned graphics, the plurality of partitioned graphics being the design graphics in the initial layout excluding the plurality of cross-blocked graphics; correcting the partitioned layout through a plurality of first clients, and correcting the cross-blocked layout through a second client, to obtain a partitioned corrected layout and a cross-blocked corrected layout; merging the plurality of cross-blocked corrected layouts and the partitioned corrected layouts to obtain a target layout.

[0008] Optionally, the step of correcting the partition map through a plurality of first clients includes: dividing the partition map into a plurality of second blocks, wherein the partition graphics in one of the first blocks are correspondingly divided into one of the second blocks; and assigning the correction tasks of the plurality of second blocks to a plurality of first clients, wherein one first client is used to correct the map for one or more of the second blocks respectively.

[0009] Optionally, the step of correcting the partition map through several first clients further includes: obtaining the corrected second block map of each second block from the first client to obtain several corrected second block maps; and merging the several corrected second block maps according to the relative position of each second block in the partition map to obtain the partition corrected map.

[0010] Optionally, the step of correcting the cross-regional map through the second client includes: dividing the cross-regional map into several third blocks, with each cross-regional graphic located in one of the third blocks; assigning the correction tasks of several third blocks in the cross-regional map to several second clients, with one second client being used to process the correction of one or more cross-regional graphics in the third blocks.

[0011] Optionally, the step of correcting the cross-regional map through the second client further includes: obtaining the corrected third-region map of each of the third regions from the second client to obtain a plurality of corrected third-region maps; and merging the plurality of corrected third-region maps according to the relative position of each third region in the cross-regional map to obtain the cross-regional corrected map.

[0012] Optionally, the cross-regional map also includes several adjacent graphics, each of which is located around the corresponding cross-regional graphic.

[0013] Optionally, the method for obtaining the cross-regional map further includes: establishing several adjacent regions in the initial map, with each cross-regional graphic located in the corresponding adjacent region; obtaining the design graphic in each adjacent region as the adjacent graphic corresponding to the cross-regional graphic in the adjacent region.

[0014] Optionally, after obtaining the target layout, the method further includes: performing optical proximity effect correction on the target layout to obtain an optical proximity corrected layout.

[0015] Accordingly, the technical solution of the present invention provides a computer device, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the steps of the above-described graphics correction method.

[0016] Accordingly, the technical solution of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the above-described graphic correction method are implemented.

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of the present invention has the following advantages:

[0018] In the graphic correction method of this invention, several cross-regional graphics that overlap with the boundary lines are obtained from the several special graphics. The initial layout is then divided into a partitioned layout and a cross-regional layout. The cross-regional layout includes the several cross-regional graphics, and the partitioned layout includes several partitioned graphics. The several partitioned graphics are the design graphics in the initial layout other than the several cross-regional graphics. Based on the partitioning method, the layout correction of the partitioned layout is performed separately on multiple first clients, which can save computation time. Since the number of cross-regional graphics in the cross-regional layout is small, the layout correction of the cross-regional layout is performed through at least one second client, which has a smaller impact on computation time and avoids the correction problems caused by partitioning the cross-regional graphics, thus improving the accuracy of layout correction. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the layout structure of a graphic correction method;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of the graphic correction method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figures 3 to 6 This is a schematic diagram of the layout structure of each step of the graphic correction method in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0022] As described in the background section, existing optical proximity correction methods require further improvement. This will be explained in detail below.

[0023] In order to obtain the desired target pattern on the wafer, the design layout needs to be retargeted before optical proximity correction is performed to overcome the effects of etching deviations in the etching process. The target pattern is obtained through the target retargeting, and the subsequent optical proximity correction is based on the target pattern.

[0024] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the layout structure of a graphic correction method.

[0025] Please refer to Figure 1 In existing tile-based optical proximity correction methods, the target resetting process includes: obtaining a design layout; dividing the design layout into several blocks according to location, with each block containing several design graphics; assigning the graphic correction tasks of the several design graphics in each block to remote clients; and after each remote client completes the calculation, returning the correction results to the host.

[0026] In the aforementioned target resetting process, the correction rules are related to the shape of the graphic. Taking a "U"-shaped graphic as the graphic to be corrected as an example, both the first graphic 101 and the second graphic 102 are "U"-shaped graphics. However, the first graphic 101 spans three different blocks T1, T2, and T3. When different remote clients are used to correct each block, only the first graphic 101 located in T1 will be corrected according to the "U" shape. This will lead to inaccurate correction results, making it impossible to obtain an accurate target graphic, and thus affecting the results of optical proximity effect correction.

[0027] To address the aforementioned problems, this invention provides a graphic correction method in which several cross-regional graphics overlapping with boundary lines are obtained from a plurality of special graphics. The initial layout is then divided into a partitioned layout and a cross-regional layout. The cross-regional layout includes the plurality of cross-regional graphics, and the partitioned layout includes a plurality of partitioned graphics. The plurality of partitioned graphics are the design graphics in the initial layout other than the plurality of cross-regional graphics. Based on the partitioning method, the layout correction of the partitioned layout is performed separately on multiple first clients, which can save computation time. Since the number of cross-regional graphics in the cross-regional layout is small, the layout correction of the cross-regional layout is performed through at least one second client, which has a smaller impact on computation time and avoids the correction problems caused by partitioning the cross-regional graphics, thereby improving the accuracy of the layout correction.

[0028] To make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0029] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of the graphic correction method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Please refer to Figure 2 The graphic correction method includes the following steps:

[0031] Step S201: Provide an initial layout, which includes several design drawings;

[0032] Step S202: Obtain several special graphics from the several design graphics;

[0033] Step S203: Divide the initial layout into several first blocks, with boundary lines between adjacent first blocks;

[0034] Step S204: Obtain several cross-regional graphics that overlap with the boundary line from among the several special graphics;

[0035] Step S205: The initial layout is split into a partitioned layout and a cross-regional layout. The cross-regional layout includes the plurality of cross-regional graphics, and the partitioned layout includes the plurality of partitioned graphics. The plurality of partitioned graphics are the design graphics in the initial layout other than the plurality of cross-regional graphics.

[0036] Step S206: The partition map is corrected by several first clients, and the cross-region map is corrected by a second client to obtain the partition corrected map and the cross-region corrected map.

[0037] Step S207: Merge the several cross-regional modified maps and the regional modified maps to obtain the target map.

[0038] The steps of the graphic correction method are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0039] Figures 3 to 6 This is a schematic diagram of the layout structure of each step of the graphic correction method in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Please continue to refer to this. Figure 2 and refer to Figure 3 An initial layout 30 is provided, which includes a plurality of design graphics 301; and a plurality of special graphics with the same shape are obtained from the plurality of design graphics 301.

[0041] In this embodiment, several special graphics with the same shape are obtained from the several design graphics 301. In another embodiment, multiple sets of special graphics can also be obtained from the several design graphics, each set of special graphics including several design graphics with the same shape, and each set of special graphics will be corrected using a correction rule corresponding to its shape.

[0042] For ease of explanation, we will use the "U" shape as an example of a special shape. Specifically, there are two special shapes: the long special shape 302 and the short special shape 303.

[0043] It should be noted that, since the correction rules are related to the shape of the graphic, the special graphic refers to the graphic that needs to be corrected using special correction rules during the correction process.

[0044] Please continue to refer to this. Figure 2 and refer to Figure 4 The initial map is divided into several first blocks, with boundary lines between adjacent first blocks.

[0045] For ease of explanation, Figure 4 Only six first blocks, T1 to T6, are shown in the image.

[0046] Please continue to refer to this. Figure 2 and refer to Figure 5 From the aforementioned special graphics, several cross-regional graphics that overlap with the boundary line are obtained.

[0047] Continuing with the "U" shaped figure as an example, in the two special figures described above, since the longer special figure 302 spans the three first blocks from T1 to T3, a cross-block figure 304 can be obtained.

[0048] Please continue to refer to this. Figure 2 and refer to Figure 6 The initial layout 30 is divided into a partition layout 40 and a cross-region layout 50. The cross-region layout 50 includes several cross-region graphics 304, and the partition layout 40 includes several partition graphics 401. The several partition graphics 401 are the design graphics 301 in the initial layout 30 other than the several cross-region graphics 304.

[0049] Please continue to refer to this. Figure 2 and Figure 6 The partition map 40 is corrected by several first clients, and the cross-region map 50 is corrected by a second client, to obtain the partition corrected map and the cross-region corrected map.

[0050] Specifically, the partition correction map includes several partition correction graphics, and each partition correction graphic corresponds one-to-one with the partition graphic 401; the cross-region correction map includes several cross-region correction graphics, and each cross-region correction graphic corresponds one-to-one with the cross-region graphic 304.

[0051] In this embodiment, the step of correcting the partition layout 40 through a plurality of first clients includes: dividing the partition layout 40 into a plurality of second blocks, wherein the partition graphic 401 in one of the first blocks is correspondingly divided into one of the second blocks; and assigning the correction tasks of the plurality of second blocks to a plurality of first clients, wherein one first client is used to perform layout correction on one or multiple second blocks respectively.

[0052] In this embodiment, the step of correcting the partition map 40 through several first clients includes: obtaining the corrected second block map of each second block from the first client to obtain several corrected second block maps; and merging the several corrected second block maps according to the relative position of each second block in the partition map to obtain the partition corrected map.

[0053] In this embodiment, the method for correcting the cross-regional map 50 using a second client includes: assigning the correction task of the cross-regional map 50 to a second client, and obtaining the corrected cross-regional map from the second client. When the number of cross-regional graphics 304 is small, assigning the correction task of the cross-regional map 50 to a single second client has a relatively small impact on computation time.

[0054] In another embodiment, when the number of graphics in the cross-regional graphic is large, the task of correcting the cross-regional map can be distributed to several second clients to reduce the impact on computing time.

[0055] In another embodiment, the method for correcting the cross-regional map through a second client includes: further dividing the cross-regional map into several third blocks, with each cross-regional graphic located in one of the third blocks; assigning the correction tasks of several third blocks in the cross-regional map to several second clients, with one second client being used to process the correction of one or more cross-regional graphics in the third blocks.

[0056] In another embodiment, the method for correcting the cross-regional map through the second client further includes: obtaining the corrected third-region map of each of the third regions from the second client to obtain a plurality of corrected third-region maps; and merging the plurality of corrected third-region maps according to the relative position of each third region in the cross-regional map to obtain the cross-regional map.

[0057] In this embodiment, the cross-regional map 50 includes the cross-regional graphic 304.

[0058] In another embodiment, the cross-regional map further includes a plurality of adjacent graphics, each of which is located around the corresponding cross-regional graphic.

[0059] In another embodiment, the method for obtaining the cross-regional map further includes: establishing a plurality of adjacent regions in the initial map, with each cross-regional graphic located in the corresponding adjacent region; obtaining the design graphic in each adjacent region as the adjacent graphic corresponding to the cross-regional graphic in the adjacent region.

[0060] Please continue to refer to this. Figure 2 and Figure 6 The cross-regional modified maps and the regional modified maps are merged to obtain the target map.

[0061] Specifically, based on the relative positions of the partitioned map 40 and the cross-regional map 50 within the initial map 30, the plurality of cross-regional modified maps and the partitioned modified maps are merged to obtain the target map.

[0062] In this embodiment, after obtaining the target pattern, optical proximity correction is performed on the target pattern to obtain an optically proximity-corrected pattern. The optically proximity-corrected pattern is used as a mask pattern for mask fabrication.

[0063] In summary, the initial layout 30 is divided into a partitioned layout 40 and a cross-regional layout 50. The cross-regional layout 50 includes several cross-regional graphics 304, and the partitioned layout 40 includes several partitioned graphics 401. The several partitioned graphics 401 are the design graphics 301 in the initial layout 30 excluding the several cross-regional graphics 304. The partitioned method allows for layout correction of the partitioned layout 40 on multiple first clients, saving computation time. Since the number of cross-regional graphics 304 in the cross-regional layout 50 is relatively small, layout correction of the cross-regional layout 50 is performed through at least one second client, which has a smaller impact on computation time and avoids the correction problems caused by partitioning the cross-regional graphics 304, thus improving the accuracy of layout correction.

[0064] Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention also disclose a computer device, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to perform the above-described... Figure 2 The steps of the graphic correction method shown are as follows.

[0065] Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention also disclose a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon, which, when executed by a processor, performs the above-described... Figure 2 The steps of the illustrated image correction method are shown. Preferably, the storage medium may include a computer-readable storage medium. Preferably, the storage medium may include ROM, RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc.

[0066] While the present invention has been disclosed above, it is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can make various modifications and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention; therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A method of graphic correction, characterized by, include: Provide an initial layout, which includes several design drawings; Several special graphics are obtained from the aforementioned design graphics; The initial map is divided into several first blocks, with boundary lines between adjacent first blocks; Among the aforementioned special graphics, obtain several cross-regional graphics that overlap with the boundary line; The initial layout is divided into a partitioned layout and a cross-regional layout. The cross-regional layout includes several cross-regional graphics, and the partitioned layout includes several partitioned graphics. The several partitioned graphics are the design graphics in the initial layout other than the several cross-regional graphics. The partition map is corrected by several first clients, and the cross-region map is corrected by a second client, to obtain the partition-corrected map and the cross-region-corrected map. The cross-regional modified maps and the regional modified maps are merged to obtain the target map.

2. The graphic correction method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The step of correcting the partition map through several first clients includes: dividing the partition map into several second blocks, with the partition graphics in one of the first blocks correspondingly divided into one of the second blocks; and assigning the correction tasks of the several second blocks to several first clients, with one first client used to correct the map for one or more of the second blocks respectively.

3. The graphic correction method as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The step of correcting the partition map through several first clients further includes: obtaining the corrected second block map of each second block from the first client to obtain several corrected second block maps; and merging the several corrected second block maps according to the relative position of each second block in the partition map to obtain the partition corrected map.

4. The graphic correction method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The step of correcting the cross-regional map through a second client includes: dividing the cross-regional map into several third blocks, with each cross-regional graphic located in one of the third blocks; assigning the correction tasks of several third blocks in the cross-regional map to several second clients, with one second client being used to process the correction of one or more cross-regional graphics in the third blocks.

5. The graphic correction method as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The step of correcting the cross-regional map through the second client further includes: obtaining the corrected third-region map of each of the third regions from the second client to obtain a plurality of corrected third-region maps; and merging the plurality of corrected third-region maps according to the relative position of each third region in the cross-regional map to obtain the cross-regional corrected map.

6. The graphic correction method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The cross-regional map also includes several adjacent graphics, each of which is located around the corresponding cross-regional graphic.

7. The graphic correction method as described in claim 6, characterized in that, The method for obtaining the cross-regional map further includes: establishing several adjacent regions in the initial map, with each cross-regional graphic located in the corresponding adjacent region; obtaining the design graphic in each adjacent region as the adjacent graphic corresponding to the cross-regional graphic in the adjacent region.

8. The graphic correction method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, After obtaining the target layout, the method further includes: performing optical proximity effect correction on the target layout to obtain an optical proximity corrected layout.

9. A computer device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, characterized in that, When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps of the graphics correction method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the graphics correction method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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