Drawing data generation method, drawing data generation apparatus, drawing data generation program, exposure system, and device manufacturing method

Abstract

Provided is a drawing data generating method, said data representing a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern atop a substrate by means of exposure light. In order to shorten the time for generating data representing a pattern to be generated by a spatial light modulator, the method is configured so that a computer executes the following: generating first drawing data representing a first drawing pattern corresponding to a first pattern, from design data representing a design pattern which corresponds to the predetermined exposure pattern and in which a second pattern including a plurality of repeatedly arranged first patterns is repeatedly arranged; generating second drawing data representing a second drawing pattern corresponding to the second pattern on the basis of the generated first drawing data and first information indicating the repeated form of the first pattern; and generating drawing data representing a drawing pattern on the basis of the generated second drawing data and second information indicating the repeated form of the second pattern.

Description

Drawing data generation method, drawing data generation device, drawing data generation program, exposure system, and device manufacturing method

[0001] The present invention relates to a drawing data generating method, a drawing data generating apparatus, a drawing data generating program, an exposure system, and a device manufacturing method.

[0002] A so-called maskless exposure apparatus has been proposed that uses a spatial light modulator (SLM) having an array of multiple micromirrors, each with a variable tilt angle, to generate a variable pattern on the object plane of a projection optical system (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] There is a demand for reducing the time required to generate data representing a pattern to be generated by a spatial light modulator.

[0004] U.S. Patent No. 6,747,783

[0005] According to a first aspect of the disclosure, a method for generating drawing data is a method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and the method is executed by a computer to generate first drawing data indicating a first drawing pattern corresponding to a first pattern from design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern, in which a second pattern including a plurality of first patterns arranged repeatedly is repeatedly arranged; generate second drawing data indicating a second drawing pattern corresponding to the second pattern based on the generated first drawing data and first information indicating the repetition pattern of the first pattern; and generate the drawing data indicating the drawing pattern based on the generated second drawing data and second information indicating the repetition pattern of the second pattern.

[0006] According to a second aspect of the disclosure, a method for generating drawing data is a method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and is executed by a computer to acquire first information indicating the repetition pattern of a first pattern that is repeatedly arranged in a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern, accept specification of second drawing data to be used as first drawing data indicating a first drawing pattern corresponding to the first pattern, and generate the drawing data of the drawing pattern using the specified second drawing data and the first information.

[0007] According to a third aspect of the disclosure, a method for generating drawing data is a method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and the method is executed by a computer to generate design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the exposure pattern using a function defined by a user, and to generate the drawing data of the drawing pattern by converting the design data.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, a method for generating drawing data is a method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and is executed by a computer to obtain drawing data for each of a plurality of different drawing patterns that have been generated in advance and are smaller in size than the drawing pattern, and to generate the drawing data for the drawing pattern by arranging the drawing data for the plurality of different drawing patterns according to predetermined rules.

[0009] According to a fifth aspect of the disclosure, a drawing data generating device is a drawing data generating device that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed in a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and includes: a first generation unit that generates first drawing data indicating a first drawing pattern corresponding to a first pattern from design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern, in which a second pattern including a plurality of first patterns arranged repeatedly is repeatedly arranged; a second generation unit that generates second drawing data indicating a second drawing pattern corresponding to the second pattern based on the generated first drawing data and first information indicating the repetition pattern of the first pattern; and a third generation unit that generates the drawing data indicating the drawing pattern based on the generated second drawing data and second information indicating the repetition pattern of the second pattern.

[0010] According to a sixth aspect of the disclosure, a drawing data generating device is a drawing data generating device that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed in a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and includes: an acquisition unit that acquires first information indicating the repetition pattern of a first pattern that is repeatedly arranged in a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern; a reception unit that accepts specification of second drawing data to be used as first drawing data indicating a first drawing pattern corresponding to the first pattern; and a generation unit that generates the drawing data of the drawing pattern using the specified second drawing data and the first information.

[0011] According to a seventh aspect of the disclosure, a drawing data generating device is a drawing data generating device that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and includes: a first generating unit that generates design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the exposure pattern using a function defined by a user; and a second generating unit that generates the drawing data of the drawing pattern by converting the design data.

[0012] According to an eighth aspect of the disclosure, a drawing data generating device is a drawing data generating device that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed in a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and includes an acquisition unit that acquires drawing data for each of a plurality of different drawing patterns that have been generated in advance and are smaller in size than the drawing pattern, and a generation unit that generates the drawing data for the drawing pattern by arranging the drawing data for the plurality of different drawing patterns according to predetermined rules.

[0013] According to a ninth aspect of the disclosure, a drawing data generation program is a program for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed in a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and causes a computer to execute the following steps: generate first drawing data indicating a first drawing pattern corresponding to a first pattern from design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern, in which a second pattern including a plurality of first patterns arranged repeatedly is repeatedly arranged; generate second drawing data indicating a second drawing pattern corresponding to the second pattern based on the generated first drawing data and first information indicating the repetition pattern of the first pattern; and generate the drawing data indicating the drawing pattern based on the generated second drawing data and second information indicating the repetition pattern of the second pattern.

[0014] According to a tenth aspect of the disclosure, a drawing data generation program is a program for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed in a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and causes a computer to execute the following steps: acquire first information indicating the repetition pattern of a first pattern that is repeatedly arranged in a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern; accept specification of second drawing data to be used as first drawing data indicating a first drawing pattern corresponding to the first pattern; and generate the drawing data of the drawing pattern using the specified second drawing data and the first information.

[0015] According to an eleventh aspect of the disclosure, a drawing data generation program is a program that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and causes a computer to execute the following operations: generate design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the exposure pattern using a function defined by a user; and generate the drawing data of the drawing pattern by converting the design data.

[0016] According to a twelfth aspect of the disclosure, the drawing data generation program is a program for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and causes a computer to execute the following steps: acquire drawing data for each of a plurality of different drawing patterns that have been generated in advance and are smaller in size than the drawing pattern; and generate the drawing data for the drawing patterns by arranging the drawing data for the plurality of different drawing patterns according to predetermined rules.

[0017] According to a thirteenth aspect of the disclosure, an exposure system includes the above-mentioned drawing data generating device and an exposure device that includes a spatial light modulator, causes the spatial light modulator to form the drawing pattern based on the drawing data generated by the drawing data generating device, and forms the predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate with exposure light that passes through the spatial light modulator.

[0018] According to a fourteenth aspect of the disclosure, a device manufacturing method includes generating the drawing data of the drawing pattern using the drawing data generating device, forming the drawing pattern on the spatial light modulator based on the drawing data, forming the predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate with exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and processing a surface of the substrate using the predetermined exposure pattern formed on the substrate as a mask.

[0019] According to a fifteenth aspect of the disclosure, a method for generating drawing data is a method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light passed through the spatial light modulator, and is executed by a computer to display design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern, identify from the design patterns a second partial design pattern that is the same as a first partial design pattern within a specified area specified using an image of the displayed design data, generate partial drawing data corresponding to the first partial design pattern within the specified area, and set the generated partial drawing data as partial drawing data corresponding to the identified second partial design pattern.

[0020] The configurations of the embodiments described below may be modified as appropriate, and at least a portion of the configuration may be replaced with other components. Furthermore, components that are not particularly limited in terms of their placement may be placed in any position that can achieve their function, not limited to the placement disclosed in the embodiments.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an exposure system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a spatial light modulator. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a data generating apparatus, and FIG. 3B is a functional block diagram of the data generating apparatus. FIG. 4A is a diagram for explaining a target pattern, a design pattern, and a writing pattern, and FIG. 4B is a diagram for explaining stripe data and an exposure pattern. FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 1) showing an example of processing executed by the data generating apparatus. FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) showing an example of processing executed by the data generating apparatus. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a design pattern displayed on a display unit by a display control unit. FIG. 8A is a diagram for explaining the range of a main pattern, FIG. 8B shows an example of repeat pattern information of the main pattern, and FIGS. 8C and 8D show examples of repeat arrangement information of the main pattern. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a main pattern displayed in an enlarged form on a display unit. FIGS. 10A to 10L are diagrams for explaining sub-patterns. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of sub-pattern processing. FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of an area in which a subpattern is arranged. FIG. 13 is a view showing identified subpatterns by hatching. FIG. 14(A) is a view showing an example of repeat pattern information generated at the time step S27 in FIG. 6 is completed, and FIG. 14(B) is a view showing an example of repeat arrangement information. FIG. 15 is a view explaining a section. FIG. 16 is a view showing an example of a section including a repeat pattern and a pattern other than a repeat pattern. FIG. 17(A) is a view showing the configuration of an exposure system according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 17(B) is a view showing the configuration of an exposure system according to a modified example of the second embodiment. FIG. 18 is a view for explaining a metalens. FIG. 19 is a view showing the configuration of an exposure system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 20 is a view showing a small pattern.

[0022] First Embodiment An exposure system 500A according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0023] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an exposure system 500A according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the exposure system 500A includes an exposure apparatus 200 and a data generating apparatus 100A.

[0024] (Exposure Apparatus 200) The exposure apparatus 200 is an exposure apparatus that uses a spatial light modulator (SLM) that modulates exposure light in accordance with the control of an exposure control unit 260, which will be described later.

[0025] 1, exposure apparatus 200 includes an illumination system 210, a pattern generator 220, a projection optical system 230, a stage device 240, an alignment detection system 250, and an exposure controller 260. In describing exposure apparatus 200, two mutually orthogonal directions in a horizontal plane are referred to as the X direction and the Y direction, and the vertical direction is referred to as the Z direction. Furthermore, the rotation (tilt) directions around the X axis, Y axis, and Z axis are referred to as the θx direction, the θy direction, and the θz direction, respectively.

[0026] The illumination system 210 includes a light source unit (not shown), an illumination optical system 211, and a reflecting mirror 212. The light source unit includes, for example, a solid-state laser light source (such as a DFB semiconductor laser or a fiber laser). The illumination optical system 211 includes a shaping optical system for changing illumination conditions, an optical integrator, a field stop, and a relay lens system (none of which are shown).

[0027] The pattern generating device 220 generates a pattern to be projected onto a photosensitive layer of the wafer W placed on a stage 241 (described later) of the stage device 240 under the control of the exposure control unit 260. The pattern generating device 220 includes a spatial light modulator 221 and a driving unit 222.

[0028] 2 is a diagram showing an example of a spatial light modulator 221. As shown in FIG. 2, the spatial light modulator 221 is, for example, a DMD (Digital Mirror Device), and has a plurality of micromirror mechanisms M arranged in a matrix (two-dimensional, array) in the XY plane. Each micromirror mechanism M has a micromirror M1 and a drive mechanism M2 provided on the opposite side of the reflective surface of the micromirror M1. The drive mechanism M2 rotates the micromirror M1 around an axis extending in the X direction.

[0029] The drive unit 222 drives the drive mechanism M2 of each of the multiple micromirror mechanisms M in accordance with a control signal from the exposure control unit 260, and switches the micromirror M1 between an on state (on position) and an off state (off position).

[0030] When the illumination light IL from the illumination system 210 is incident on a micromirror M1 that is in the on state, the zeroth-order diffracted light IL0 of the illumination light IL is incident on the projection optical system 230. On the other hand, when the illumination light IL from the illumination system 210 is incident on a micromirror M1 that is in the off state, the zeroth-order diffracted light IL1 of the illumination light IL reaches a non-exposure optical path that is outside the projection optical system 230. The pattern generating device 220 imparts a pattern to the illumination light IL by setting each of the multiple micromirrors M1 to either the on state or the off state.

[0031] The spatial light modulator 221 is not limited to a type that switches between an on state and an off state by tilting a micromirror, but may be a type that generates a phase difference by tilting a micromirror or a type that generates a phase difference by moving a micromirror up and down. The spatial modulator 221 is not limited to a DMD, but may be, for example, a magneto-optic spatial light modulator (MOSLM). Although the spatial light modulator 221 has been described as a reflective type that reflects the illumination light IL, the spatial light modulator 221 may be a transmissive type that transmits the illumination light IL or a diffractive type that diffracts the illumination light IL. Any spatial light modulator 221 may be used as long as it can spatially and temporally modulate the illumination light IL.

[0032] The projection optical system 230 reduces and projects an image of the light modulation surface of the spatial light modulator 221 onto the wafer W placed on the stage 241 at a projection magnification β (β=1 / 200, 1 / 400, 1 / 500, etc., as examples). That is, an exposure pattern is formed on the wafer W by the energy beam transmitted through the pattern generating device 220. The projection magnification of the projection optical system 230 may be either the same magnification or an enlarged magnification. The projection optical system has a lens barrel 230s and a plurality of optical elements (not shown) arranged in a predetermined positional relationship inside the lens barrel 230s.

[0033] The stage device 240 includes a stage (substrate stage) 241 , a laser interferometer 242 , and a stage driver 243 .

[0034] The stage 241 holds the wafer W via a wafer holder (not shown) provided at the center of the upper surface. The stage 241 is movable in the X, Y, and Z directions by a stage driving unit 243, and is rotatable around an axis extending in the Z direction.

[0035] The laser interferometer 242 constantly detects the position of the stage 241 in the X direction, Y direction, and θz direction with a resolution of, for example, about 0.5 to 1 nm by irradiating a measurement beam onto the reflecting surfaces provided on the end faces of the stage 241 in the X direction and Y direction, respectively.

[0036] The stage driving unit 243 drives the stage 241 in accordance with a control signal from the exposure control unit 260 .

[0037] The alignment detection system 250 is disposed on the side of the projection optical system 230. In this embodiment, an imaging type alignment sensor is used as the alignment detection system 250. A detailed configuration of the alignment detection system 250 is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,129.

[0038] The alignment detection system 250 detects street lines and position detection marks formed on the wafer W. The detection results of the street lines and position detection marks by the alignment detection system 250 are output to the exposure control unit 260.

[0039] The exposure control unit 260 controls the pattern generation device 220 based on the stripe data (details of which will be described later) generated by the data generation device 100A, and also controls the operation of the illumination system 210, stage device 240, etc., and projects the image of the pattern generated by the spatial light modulator 221 onto the wafer W held on the stage 241 via the projection optical system 230.

[0040] When the spatial light modulator 221 is illuminated by illumination light IL from the illumination system 210, the illumination light IL reflected by the micromirror M1 of the spatial light modulator 221 that is in the on state, i.e., the illumination light IL that has been given a pattern by the spatial light modulator 221, enters the projection optical system 230, and a reduced image (partially inverted image) of the pattern is formed in the projection area IA on the wafer W held on the stage 241.

[0041] In this embodiment, the exposure control unit 260 performs exposure using a step-and-scan method. During the scanning exposure, the exposure control unit 260 moves the stage 241 at an appropriate speed and scrolls the pattern generated by the spatial light modulator 221 in synchronization with the movement of the stage 241 (i.e., changes the shape of the pattern generated by the spatial light modulator 221).

[0042] As exposure apparatus 200 having the above configuration, the exposure apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,089,616, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020 / 00257205, or WO 2005 / 081034 may be used.

[0043] (Data Generating Device 100A) Next, the data generating device 100A will be described. The data generating device 100A is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer) or a server. Fig. 3A shows an example of the hardware configuration of the data generating device 100A.

[0044] 3A, the data generation device 100A includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 190, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 192, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 194, a storage unit (SSD (Solid State Drive) or the like) 196, a display unit 193, an input unit 195, a network interface 197, and a portable storage medium drive 199. The display unit 193 includes a liquid crystal display or the like, and the input unit 195 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or the like. These components of the data generation device 100A are connected to a bus 198.

[0045] 3B is a functional block diagram of the data generating device 100 A. As shown in FIG. 3B, the data generating device 100 A includes a data acquiring unit 101, a display control unit 102, a receiving unit 106, a repetition information storage unit 109, a first drawing data generating unit 103, a first drawing data storage unit 107, a second drawing data generating unit 104, a second drawing data storage unit 108, and a stripe data generating unit 105.

[0046] The data acquisition unit 101, the display control unit 102, the reception unit 106, the first drawing data generation unit 103, the second drawing data generation unit 104, and the stripe data generation unit 105 are realized by the CPU 190 executing a program (including a drawing data generation program) stored in the ROM 192 or the storage unit 196, or a program (including a drawing data generation program) read by the portable storage medium drive 199 from the portable storage medium 191. The repetition information storage unit 109, the first drawing data storage unit 107, and the second drawing data storage unit 108 are realized by, for example, the storage unit 196. The functions of the data acquisition unit 101, the display control unit 102, the reception unit 106, the first drawing data generation unit 103, the second drawing data generation unit 104, and the stripe data generation unit 105 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0047] The data acquisition unit 101 acquires target pattern data indicating an exposure pattern (hereinafter referred to as a target pattern) to be formed on a wafer W, and design data indicating a design pattern (also called a polygon mask) corresponding to the exposure pattern, obtained by performing OPC (Optical Proximity Correction) on the target pattern data. The design data indicating the design pattern is, for example, data in OASIS or GDSII format.

[0048] The display control unit 102 performs processing such as displaying the design pattern indicated by the design data acquired by the data acquisition unit 101 on the display unit 193 .

[0049] The receiving unit 106 receives a user's operation on the design pattern displayed on the display unit 193. Furthermore, the receiving unit 106 generates repetitive pattern information and repetitive placement information (details of which will be described later) based on the operation received from the user, and stores the information in the repetition information storage unit 109.

[0050] The first drawing data generation unit 103 and the second drawing data generation unit 104 use the design data and the repetition pattern information and repetition arrangement information stored in the repetition information storage unit 109 to generate drawing data indicating a pattern (hereinafter referred to as a drawing pattern) to be generated by the spatial light modulator 221. Details of the drawing data generated by the first drawing data generation unit 103 and the second drawing data generation unit 104 will be described later.

[0051] The first drawing data storage unit 107 stores the drawing data generated by the first drawing data generation unit 103 , and the second drawing data storage unit 108 stores the drawing data generated by the second drawing data generation unit 104 .

[0052] Before describing the processing executed by the data generating device 100A, each pattern and data will be described. Fig. 4A is a diagram for explaining the target pattern, design pattern, and writing pattern, and Fig. 4B is a diagram for explaining the stripe data and exposure pattern.

[0053] The target pattern shown on the left side of FIG. 4A is the pattern to be formed on the wafer W.

[0054] In exposure apparatuses such as scanning steppers or steppers used in lithography processes for manufacturing devices (electronic devices or microdevices) such as semiconductor elements, the optical proximity effect (OPE) can cause the line width of a pattern formed on the wafer W after exposure to vary depending on the pitch, or the position of the pattern's edges to vary. Therefore, when the spatial light modulator 221 generates a pattern based on a drawing pattern generated by converting a target pattern, the desired pattern may not be formed on the wafer W.

[0055] Therefore, in order to correct the change in the pattern due to the OPE characteristics, OPC is performed to offset the change due to the OPE characteristics by correcting the line width of the target pattern in advance or by adding an auxiliary pattern. The pattern obtained by performing OPC on the target pattern is the design pattern (center of FIG. 4A). As shown in FIG. 4A, the design pattern will be slightly different from the target pattern. The design data representing the design pattern is data in vector format.

[0056] The drawing data is obtained by converting this design data into bitmap format (also called raster format) data. The drawing data is data representing the drawing pattern shown on the right side of Fig. 4(A). Each pixel of the drawing pattern is represented by either white or black. In Fig. 4(A), for example, white pixels correspond to the on-state of the mirror of the spatial light modulator 221, and black pixels correspond to the off-state of the mirror.

[0057] Using the drawing data generated in this manner, the stripe data generator 105 generates stripe data to be used for controlling the pattern generator 220. The stripe data is data obtained by arranging the drawing data at a desired position and then extracting a portion of the data to match the number of pixels of the spatial light modulator 221, as shown on the left side of FIG.

[0058] A pattern is generated by the spatial light modulator 221 based on the stripe data, and the generated pattern is projected onto the wafer W, thereby forming (exposing) an exposure pattern that is approximately equal to the target pattern on the wafer W, as shown on the right side of Figure 4 (B).

[0059] When design data is converted to obtain drawing data, it may take a long time to generate the drawing data due to imaging calculations, etc. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the time required to generate the drawing data is reduced by the process described below.

[0060] (Processing of Data Generating Device 100A) FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing an example of processing executed by the data generating device 100A.

[0061] The process of FIG. 5 starts when, for example, the user starts up the drawing data generation software and the drawing data generation program is executed.

[0062] 5, first, the data acquisition unit 101 acquires target pattern data and design data (step S11). For example, when a user specifies a file of the target pattern data and the design data, the data acquisition unit 101 reads the specified file and acquires the target pattern data and the design data.

[0063] When the data acquisition unit 101 acquires the target pattern data and the design data, the display control unit 102 displays the design pattern on the display unit 193 based on the design data (step S13).

[0064] 7 shows an example of a design pattern DP displayed by the display control unit 102 on the display unit 193. As shown in FIG. 7, the design pattern DP includes multiple regions in which the same pattern is repeatedly arranged. For example, pattern MP1 is repeatedly arranged in region MR1, and pattern MP2 is repeatedly arranged in region MR2. For convenience, patterns MP1 and MP2 are referred to as main patterns MP1 and MP2. In the following description, a pattern repeatedly arranged in a design pattern may be referred to as a repeated pattern.

[0065] 5, the receiving unit 106 waits until a repeated main pattern is designated (step S15 / NO). The user can designate the main pattern MP1 by surrounding the main pattern MP1 with a rectangular frame by dragging the mouse on the screen displaying the design pattern DP. In this case, the rectangular frame can also be considered a designated area.

[0066] When a main pattern is designated (step S15 / YES), the receiving unit 106 generates repeat pattern information and repeat arrangement information for the designated main pattern (step S17). The repeat pattern information is information for extracting a pattern that is repeatedly arranged in a design pattern from the design pattern, and the repeat arrangement information is information indicating the repetition mode of the pattern (how the repeatedly arranged pattern is arranged).

[0067] The process of step S17 will be described in detail. First, the receiving unit 106 determines the exact range of the designated main pattern MP1 by referring to the patterns arranged around the main pattern MP1. Then, based on the exact range of the main pattern MP1, the receiving unit 106 identifies information necessary for extracting the main pattern MP1 from the design pattern.

[0068] Next, the receiving unit 106 searches the design pattern for a pattern identical to the specified main pattern MP1. For example, the receiving unit 106 determines whether patterns arranged around the specified main pattern MP1 are identical to the specified main pattern MP1, and continues the search until no patterns identical to the specified main pattern MP1 are identified. In generating the drawing data (described later), the pasting operation is performed on the drawing data, which is raster data, so the search is performed under the condition that the repetition interval is an integer multiple of the pixel size. In the first embodiment, the search for a pattern identical to the specified main pattern MP1 is performed using a target pattern. This is because, as described above, in a design pattern after OPC, even if the same pattern is in the target pattern, it may have a different shape. Note that the search may be performed using a design pattern instead of the target pattern. In this case, the data acquiring unit 101 does not need to acquire the target pattern in step S11.

[0069] The receiving unit 106 generates repetitive placement information based on the search results.

[0070] Figure 8(A) is a diagram for explaining the range of the main pattern MP1, Figure 8(B) shows an example of repeating pattern information of the main pattern MP1, and Figures 8(C) and 8(D) show examples of repeating arrangement information of the main pattern MP1.

[0071] For example, suppose the coordinates of the upper left vertex C1 of the rectangle indicating the range of the main pattern MP1 shown in FIG. 8A are (x3, y3), the length of one side in the X direction is X3, and the length of one side in the Y direction is Y3.

[0072] In this case, the receiving unit 106 generates repetitive pattern information as shown in FIG. 8B . As shown in FIG. 8B , the repetitive pattern information is, for example, comma-separated data. In the first embodiment, the repetitive pattern information includes a generation command for a drawing pattern, a name for uniquely identifying the repetitive pattern, a hierarchical level in which the repetitive pattern exists, and information indicating the range of the repetitive pattern. Note that the repetitive pattern information is not limited to comma-separated data, and may be data in another format (for example, data in tab-separated format or structured data such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)). Furthermore, the repetitive pattern information may be in binary format instead of text format.

[0073] For example, in FIG. 8B , the leftmost "SOURCE" is a command for converting a design pattern into a drawing pattern. The second from the left, "MAIN_PATTERN_1," is a name for uniquely identifying the main pattern MP1. The third value from the left indicates the layer in which the repeating pattern exists; for example, "0" indicates that the repeating pattern is a main pattern. Furthermore, "1" indicates that the repeating pattern is a subpattern (details will be described later). The fourth to seventh values ​​from the left are information representing the range of the repeating pattern. For example, the fourth and fifth values ​​from the left indicate the X and Y coordinates, respectively, of the upper left vertex C1 of the rectangular range of the main pattern MP1 shown in FIG. 8A , and the sixth and seventh values ​​indicate the X and Y lengths, respectively, of the rectangular range of the main pattern MP1.

[0074] On the other hand, the repeat placement information shown in FIG. 8C includes, for example, the repeat pattern placement method, the name of the pattern to be repeatedly placed, and information indicating details of the repeat pattern placement method.

[0075] In the example of FIG. 8A, seven repeating patterns (main patterns MP1) are arranged in an array in the X direction and seven in the Y direction, and the X and Y coordinates of the start position SL1 of the area where the main patterns MP1 are repeatedly arranged are x4 and y4, respectively.

[0076] In this case, the repeat arrangement information is, for example, "PASTE_ARRAY, MAIN_PATTERN_1, x4, y4, 7, 7" as shown in FIG. 8C.

[0077] In the repeat arrangement information in FIG. 8C, the first item from the left, "PASTE_ARRAY", indicates that the repeat pattern specified in the second item from the left is to be arranged in an array.

[0078] The third to sixth values ​​from the left are information showing details of how the repeating patterns are arranged. The third and fourth values ​​from the left indicate the X and Y coordinates, respectively, that indicate the start position of the repeating patterns, the fifth value indicates the number of rows (the number of patterns arranged in the Y direction), and the sixth value indicates the number of columns (the number of patterns arranged in the X direction).

[0079] The arrangement of the repeating patterns is not limited to an array ("PASTE_ARRAY"), and the repeating patterns can also be arranged in a staircase pattern, for example. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8D, the first value from the left is "PASTE_STEP." The third and fourth values ​​from the left indicate the X and Y coordinates, respectively, that indicate the start position of the arrangement of the repeating patterns, the fifth value indicates the number of stages, the sixth value indicates the number of repeating patterns to be arranged in the first stage, and the seventh value indicates the number of decreases per stage of the repeating patterns if the value is negative, or the number of increases per stage of the repeating patterns if the value is positive.

[0080] The repetitive pattern information and repetitive arrangement information thus generated are stored in the repetitive information storage unit 109 .

[0081] Returning to Fig. 5, after step S17 is completed, the display control unit 102 displays the designated main pattern on the display unit 193 in an enlarged scale (step S19). Fig. 9 shows an example of a main pattern MP1 displayed in an enlarged scale on the display unit 193. As shown in Fig. 9, the main pattern MP1 also has an area where the same pattern is repeatedly arranged. In the following description, a pattern repeatedly arranged in the main pattern is referred to as a sub-pattern. Not only the main pattern but also the sub-pattern is an example of a repeated pattern.

[0082] 10A to 10L are diagrams for explaining sub-patterns, where Fig. 10A shows the main pattern MP1, and Fig. 10B to 10L show the sub-patterns.

[0083] In the main pattern MP1 shown in Figure 10(A), the subpattern SP1 shown in Figure 10(B) is repeatedly arranged in the region SR1, the subpattern SP2 shown in Figure 10(C) is repeatedly arranged in the region SR2, and the subpattern SP3 shown in Figure 10(D) is repeatedly arranged in the region SR3.

[0084] In region SR4, subpattern SP4 shown in Fig. 10(E) is repeatedly arranged, in region SR5, subpattern SP5 shown in Fig. 10(F) is repeatedly arranged, and in region SR6, subpattern SP6 shown in Fig. 10(G) is repeatedly arranged. In region SR7, subpattern SP7 shown in Fig. 10(H) is repeatedly arranged, in region SR8, subpattern SP8 shown in Fig. 10(I) is repeatedly arranged, and in region SR9, subpattern SP9 shown in Fig. 10(J) is repeatedly arranged. In region SR10, subpattern SP10 shown in Fig. 10(K) is repeatedly arranged, and in region SR11, subpattern SP11 shown in Fig. 10(L) is repeatedly arranged.

[0085] 5, after the main pattern is enlarged and displayed (step S19), the accepting unit 106 determines whether or not to execute sub-pattern processing (step S21). For example, when the user presses a "sub-pattern specification" button displayed on the screen, the accepting unit 106 determines to execute sub-pattern processing (step S21 / YES) and executes sub-pattern processing (step S23). If the sub-pattern processing is not to be executed (step S21 / NO), the process proceeds to step S27, which will be described later.

[0086] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of subpattern processing. In the processing of FIG. 11, first, the receiving unit 106 waits until a subpattern is designated in the enlarged main pattern (step S231 / NO). If a subpattern is designated (step S231 / YES), the receiving unit 106 generates repeat pattern information for the subpattern (step S232) and further generates repeat placement information for the subpattern (step S233). Note that the designated subpattern is an example of a first partial design pattern.

[0087] Here, the processing of steps S232 and S233 will be described using an example in which sub-pattern SP4 (see FIG. 10E) of region SR4 is designated in main pattern MP1 shown in FIG. 10A.

[0088] 12 is an enlarged view of region SR4. The user enlarges region SR4 on display 193 by, for example, changing the display magnification, and then drags the mouse to surround one of subpatterns SP4 that are repeatedly arranged in region SR4 with a rectangular frame FR2, as shown in FIG. 12. This designates subpattern SP4. The rectangular frame FR2 can also be considered a designated region.

[0089] When subpattern SP4 is specified, the reception unit 106 determines the exact range of subpattern SP4 by referring to the patterns arranged around the specified subpattern SP4, and generates repeating pattern information for subpattern SP4, as in the case of main pattern MP1.

[0090] Next, the receiving unit 106 searches for a pattern identical to the specified subpattern SP4 around the specified subpattern SP4, and identifies a subpattern SP4 that is repeatedly arranged. As with the main pattern, the search is performed under the condition that the repetition interval is an integer multiple of the pixel size. Note that in the first embodiment, even when searching for a pattern identical to the specified subpattern SP4, the determination of whether or not the pattern is identical is performed using a target pattern, as with the main pattern. Note that, as with the main pattern, a design pattern may be used instead of the target pattern. Note that a pattern identical to the specified subpattern SP4 is an example of a second partial design pattern.

[0091] 13 shows the identified subpattern SP4 by hatching. Within region SR4, subpattern SP4 is identified as being repeatedly arranged in region SR4-1. Note that because there is a blank space between region SR4-1 and region SR4-2 (because the repetition has been interrupted), the search process for subpattern SP4 has not been performed in region SR4-2.

[0092] As a result of the search process, the repetition pattern of the subpattern SP4 in the region SR4-1 can be determined, and the receiving unit 106 generates repetition arrangement information indicating the repetition pattern of the subpattern SP4, as in the case of the main pattern MP1.

[0093] 11 , when the generation of the repeat pattern information and the repeat arrangement information for the specified subpattern is completed, the receiving unit 106 determines whether or not a paste instruction has been received (step S234). The paste instruction is an instruction to generate repeat arrangement information for an area other than the area for which the repeat arrangement information was generated in step S233, when the subpattern specified in step S231 is repeatedly arranged in the other area.

[0094] 13, for example, if the user wants to generate repeat placement information for subpattern SP4 in region SR4-2, the user encloses the pattern corresponding to subpattern SP4 in region SR4-2 in a rectangular frame FR3. Alternatively, the user may determine the position of frame FR3 by connecting the vertices of a figure within subpattern SP4 with the vertices of a corresponding figure within frame FR3. This causes receiving unit 106 to determine that a paste instruction has been received.

[0095] If a paste instruction is received (step S234 / YES), the receiving unit 106 generates repetitive arrangement information for the region SR4-2 (step S235). For example, the receiving unit 106 first determines whether the pattern surrounded by the frame FR3 is identical to the subpattern SP4 specified in step S231. If the pattern surrounded by the frame FR3 is identical to the subpattern SP4 specified in step S231, the receiving unit 106 searches for a pattern identical to the subpattern SP4, as in the process for the region SR4-1, and identifies a subpattern SP4 that is repeatedly arranged around the subpattern SP4 surrounded by the frame FR3. The receiving unit 106 then determines the repetition pattern of the subpattern SP4 based on the identification result, and generates repetitive arrangement information for the subpattern SP4 in the region SR4-2. If the pattern enclosed by the frame FR3 and the subpattern SP4 specified in step S231 are not identical, the process of step S235 is not performed and the process proceeds to step S236.

[0096] After the process of step S235 is completed, or if a paste instruction has not been received (step S234 / NO), the receiving unit 106 determines whether an instruction to end the sub-pattern process has been received (step S236). If an instruction to end the sub-pattern process has not been received (step S236 / NO), the process returns to step S234. On the other hand, if an instruction to end the sub-pattern process has been received, the process proceeds to step S25 in FIG. 5.

[0097] The accepting unit 106 determines whether the sub-pattern processing has been completed for all sub-patterns included in the main pattern (step S25). For example, the accepting unit 106 determines whether the sub-pattern processing has been completed for all sub-patterns based on whether the user has pressed a "Sub-pattern designation end" button displayed on the screen.

[0098] If subpattern processing has not been completed for all subpatterns (step S25 / NO), the process returns to step S23, allowing the user to perform subpattern processing on, for example, the subpatterns SP1 to SP3, SP5 to SP11 that are repeatedly arranged other than subpattern SP4.

[0099] On the other hand, if the sub-pattern processing is completed for all the sub-patterns (step S25 / YES), the receiving unit 106 determines whether or not a drawing data generation instruction has been received ( FIG. 6 : step S27). For example, the receiving unit 106 determines that a drawing data generation instruction has been received when a "Generate drawing data" button displayed on the screen is pressed.

[0100] If the drawing data generation instruction has not been received (step S27 / NO), the process returns to step S15, allowing the user to perform the above-described processing on other main patterns (e.g., main pattern MP2) that are repeatedly arranged.

[0101] On the other hand, if a drawing data generation instruction is received (step S27 / YES), the first drawing data generation unit 103 generates drawing data indicating the drawing pattern of the subpattern (hereinafter referred to as subpattern drawing data) based on the repeating pattern information (step S29).

[0102] FIG. 14A is a diagram showing an example of repetitive pattern information generated at the time step S27 is completed, and FIG. 14B is a diagram showing an example of repetitive arrangement information.

[0103] For example, the first drawing data generation unit 103 reads the repeating pattern information, and if the third value from the left indicating the layer in which the repeating pattern exists is "1" (sub-pattern), it extracts a design pattern of the sub-pattern from the design pattern DP based on the fourth to seventh values ​​from the left, and converts the extracted design pattern into a drawing pattern.

[0104] Next, the first drawing data generation unit 103 generates drawing data indicating the drawing pattern of the main pattern (hereinafter referred to as the drawing data of the main pattern) based on the generated drawing data of the subpattern and the repeating arrangement information of the subpattern (step S31).

[0105] Specifically, for areas where sub-patterns are repeatedly arranged, the first drawing data generation unit 103 pastes the drawing data of the sub-pattern generated in step S29 based on the repeating arrangement information of the sub-pattern, and for areas where no repeating patterns are arranged, generates drawing data of the main pattern by converting the design data.

[0106] In other words, for example, in the region SR4 where the subpattern SP4 is repeatedly arranged, the drawing data of the generated subpattern SP4 is used as the drawing data corresponding to the pattern identified as the same as the subpattern SP4. That is, for the pattern identified as the same as the subpattern SP4, the drawing data is not generated by converting the design data, but the drawing data of the generated subpattern SP4 is used as the drawing data of the pattern.

[0107] Then, the drawing data of the subpattern SP4 is allocated to the drawing data coordinates as part of the drawing data of the main pattern based on the position of the subpattern SP4 specified in the design pattern, and the drawing data corresponding to the pattern identified as being identical to the subpattern SP4 is allocated to the drawing data coordinates as another part of the drawing data of the main pattern based on the position of the pattern identified as being identical to the subpattern SP4 in the design pattern.

[0108] When generating drawing data by converting design data, imaging calculations and the like are performed, which may require a long time to generate the drawing data. In the first embodiment, for an area where sub-patterns are repeatedly arranged, imaging calculations and the like are not required because the drawing data of the sub-patterns that have already been generated are pasted. Therefore, the time required to generate the drawing data of the main pattern can be shortened compared to when all of the drawing data of the main pattern is generated by converting design data.

[0109] The drawing data of the main pattern generated by the first drawing data generating unit 103 is stored in the first drawing data storing unit 107 .

[0110] Next, the second drawing data generation unit 104 generates drawing data (hereinafter referred to as drawing data of the entire pattern) indicating the drawing pattern of the entire pattern (see Figure 7) by arranging the drawing data of the main pattern stored in the first drawing data storage unit 107 based on the repetition arrangement information of the main pattern (step S33).

[0111] In generating the drawing data for the entire pattern, as shown in FIG. 15 , the entire pattern is divided into sections SC of a predetermined size, and drawing data is generated for each section SC. At this time, the second drawing data generation unit 104 generates drawing data in different ways depending on whether (1) a repeating pattern is not included in the section, (2) all patterns included in the section are repeating patterns, or (3) the section includes both repeating patterns and patterns other than repeating patterns. In the case of (1), the second drawing data generation unit 104 generates drawing data by converting design data as in the past. In the case of (2), the second drawing data generation unit 104 generates drawing data by pasting already generated drawing data of a repeating pattern (e.g., drawing data of a main pattern MP1) into the section SC. This eliminates the need for imaging calculations, etc., and therefore reduces the time required to generate drawing data compared to generating drawing data by converting design data.

[0112] Next, case (3) will be described with reference to FIG. 16 . FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a section SC1 including a repeating pattern and a pattern other than the repeating pattern. In FIG. 16 , the repeating pattern is arranged in a region formed by combining regions R1 and R2. If the drawing pattern of the repeating pattern were arranged in regions R1 and R2 as is, it may not match the drawing pattern of region R3, where a pattern other than the repeating pattern is arranged. Therefore, in region R2 (region R2 adjacent to region R3), which is the periphery of the combined region formed by regions R1 and R2 in which the repeating pattern is arranged, the drawing pattern of the repeating pattern is adjusted so as to match the drawing pattern of region R3. In this way, an exposure pattern closer to the target pattern can be formed on the wafer W. Note that, when generating the drawing data for the main pattern, the main pattern may be divided into sections of a predetermined size, and drawing data may be generated for each section. Also, when generating the drawing data for the subpattern, the subpattern may be divided into sections of a predetermined size, and drawing data may be generated for each section.

[0113] The generated drawing data (bitmap file) of each section SC is stored in the second drawing data storage unit 108 .

[0114] After the process of step S33 is completed, the stripe data generation unit 105 generates stripe data by combining the drawing data of each section SC stored in the second drawing data storage unit 108 (step S34), and ends the processes of Figures 5 and 6. By causing the spatial light modulator 221 to generate a pattern based on the stripe data and projecting the generated pattern onto the wafer W, it is possible to form an exposure pattern on the wafer W that is substantially identical to the target pattern.

[0115] 5 and 6, if none of the main patterns includes a subpattern, the process of step S29 is not performed, and in step S31, a design pattern in a range corresponding to the main pattern is extracted based on the repeated pattern information of the main pattern, and the extracted design pattern is converted into a drawing pattern to generate drawing data. In this case, the main pattern corresponds to the first partial design pattern, and a pattern identical to the main pattern corresponds to the second partial design pattern.

[0116] As described above in detail, according to the first embodiment, the data generating device 100A generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by the spatial light modulator 221 in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on the wafer W with exposure light transmitted through the spatial light modulator 221. The data generating device 100A includes: a first drawing data generating unit 103 that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern of a sub-pattern from design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern, in which a main pattern including a plurality of sub-patterns repeatedly arranged is repeatedly arranged; and generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern corresponding to the main pattern based on the generated drawing data of the sub-pattern and repetition arrangement information indicating a repetition manner of the sub-pattern; and a second drawing data generating unit 104 that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern of the entire pattern based on the generated drawing data of the main pattern and repetition arrangement information indicating a repetition manner of the main pattern.

[0117] For a main pattern in which the same sub-pattern is repeatedly arranged, part of the drawing data of the main pattern is generated by creating and pasting drawing data of the sub-pattern, which allows the time required to generate the drawing data of the main pattern to be reduced compared to when all of the drawing data of the main pattern is generated by converting design data. Also, for a main pattern in which the same sub-pattern is repeatedly arranged throughout the entire pattern, part of the drawing data of the entire pattern is generated by pasting the generated drawing data of the main pattern, which allows the time required to generate the drawing data of the entire pattern to be reduced compared to when all of the drawing data of the entire pattern is generated by converting design data.

[0118] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the data generating device 100A includes a display control unit 102 that displays a design pattern on a display unit 193, and a receiving unit 106 that receives a designation of a main pattern from among the design patterns displayed on the display unit 193. The display control unit 102 enlarges the designated main pattern and displays it on the display unit 193, and the receiving unit 106 receives a designation of a sub-pattern from among the main patterns enlarged and displayed on the display unit 193. Based on the designation, the data generating device 100A generates repeat pattern information and repeat arrangement information necessary for generating a drawing pattern of the sub-pattern from the design data. This allows the user to designate the main pattern and sub-patterns that are repeatedly arranged while viewing the design pattern displayed on the display unit 193. Furthermore, when the user designates the main pattern and sub-patterns that are repeatedly arranged, the repeat pattern information and repeat arrangement information are automatically generated, thereby reducing the user's workload.

[0119] In the first embodiment, the receiving unit 106 generates repetition arrangement information for an area that includes a specified subpattern and in which the subpattern is repeatedly arranged. Since the receiving unit 106 searches for and identifies a pattern identical to the specified subpattern and generates repetition arrangement information, the user does not need to specify each of the repeated subpatterns one by one, thereby reducing the user's workload and work time.

[0120] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the receiving unit 106 receives a designation of a second region (e.g., region SR4-2) in which the subpattern is repeatedly arranged, which is different from a first region (e.g., region SR4-1) in which the subpattern is repeatedly arranged, and generates repetition arrangement information for the second region. This makes it possible to generate repetition arrangement information even when the subpattern is repeatedly arranged in the second region different from the first region, and ultimately makes it possible to generate drawing data for the second region by pasting a drawing pattern of the subpattern, thereby shortening the time required to generate drawing data.

[0121] In the first embodiment, the data generating apparatus 100A includes a display control unit 102 that displays design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to a predetermined exposure pattern on a display unit 193, an accepting unit 106 that identifies, from the design patterns, a pattern identical to a sub-pattern within a specified region specified using an image of the displayed design data, and a first drawing data generating unit 103 that generates drawing data corresponding to the sub-pattern within the specified region and sets the generated drawing data as drawing data corresponding to the identified pattern. The first drawing data generating unit 103 generates drawing data corresponding to the pattern identified as being identical to the sub-pattern by copying the drawing data corresponding to the sub-pattern, assigns the drawing data corresponding to the sub-pattern to drawing data coordinates as part of the drawing data based on the position of the sub-pattern within the design pattern, and assigns the drawing data corresponding to the pattern identified as being identical to the sub-pattern to drawing data coordinates as another part of the drawing data based on the position of the identified pattern within the design pattern.

[0122] The receiving unit 106 also identifies, from among the design patterns, a pattern identical to a main pattern within a specified region designated using the displayed image of the design data. The data generating device 100A includes a second drawing data generating unit 104 that generates drawing data corresponding to the main pattern within the specified region and sets the generated drawing data as drawing data corresponding to the identified pattern. The second drawing data generating unit 104 then generates drawing data corresponding to the pattern identified as identical to the main pattern by copying the drawing data corresponding to the main pattern, and allocates the drawing data corresponding to the main pattern on drawing data coordinates as part of the drawing data based on the position of the main pattern within the design pattern. Furthermore, the second drawing data generating unit 104 allocates the drawing data corresponding to the pattern identified as identical to the main pattern on drawing data coordinates as another part of the drawing data based on the position of the identified pattern within the design pattern.

[0123] Since the drawing data of the generated sub-pattern is allocated to the drawing data coordinates as the drawing data of the pattern identified as being identical to the sub-pattern, the time required for generating the drawing data can be reduced compared to when the drawing data of the drawing pattern including the repeatedly arranged sub-patterns is generated by converting the design data. Also, since the drawing data of the generated main pattern is allocated to the drawing data coordinates as the drawing data of the pattern identified as being identical to the main pattern, the time required for generating the drawing data can be reduced compared to when the drawing data of the drawing pattern is generated by converting the design data.

[0124] In the first embodiment, the case where the user specifies the main pattern and the sub-patterns that are repeatedly arranged has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0125] For example, the designer who generated the target pattern knows where the repeat patterns are located in the target pattern. Therefore, the designer may generate repeat pattern information and repeat placement information based on the target pattern data. In this case, the data generating device 100A may acquire the repeat pattern information and repeat placement information generated by the designer and perform the processes of steps S29 to S34 in FIG. 6 .

[0126] Furthermore, for example, by utilizing the fact that the design data has a cell tree structure, the data generating device 100A may automatically generate repeat pattern information and repeat placement information. In this case, cells with a large number of instances or cells designated as candidates by the designer (for example, these can be designated by the PROPERTY element of OASIS) are extracted as repeat patterns, and the locations where the cells appear are checked to see whether they can be copied on a cell-by-cell basis (whether they match the pixel boundaries after conversion) and whether they overlap with other patterns (for example, whether additional wiring patterns are included), and if there are no problems, repeat placement information is generated.

[0127] In the above embodiment, the main pattern and sub-pattern may not be specified from the design pattern displayed on the screen, but may be specified, for example, from a pattern stored in an external device for which a drawing pattern has already been generated. In this case, the receiving unit 106 may search for an area in which the same pattern as the main pattern or sub-pattern stored in the external device is repeatedly arranged. Alternatively, the user may instruct the receiving unit 106 to paste the main pattern or sub-pattern stored in the external device, causing the receiving unit 106 to generate repeated arrangement information.

[0128] In the above embodiment, an example of data generation consisting of three stages, i.e., a sub-pattern, a main pattern, and an entire pattern, is shown, but exposure data may be generated in more stages. For example, a sub-pattern may further include a repeating pattern, and previously generated drawing data may be pasted onto that portion.

[0129] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the data generating device 100A acquires pre-generated design data, but in the second embodiment, the data generating device 100A generates design data using a function defined by a user, and generates drawing data.

[0130] 17A is a diagram showing the configuration of an exposure system 500B according to the second embodiment. The exposure system 500B includes a data generating apparatus 100B and an exposure apparatus 200. The configuration of the exposure apparatus 200 is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0131] The data generating device 100B according to the second embodiment includes a user-defined function storage unit 111, a user-defined function execution unit 112, a drawing data generating unit 113, a drawing data storage unit 114, and a stripe data generating unit 115.

[0132] The user-defined function storage unit 111 stores functions defined by a user (hereinafter referred to as user-defined functions). A user-defined function is a function that generates a design pattern according to predetermined input / output specifications, and may be created by a user of the exposure system as a script file in a high-level scripting language such as Python. The form of the user-defined function is not limited to this, and may be any means that allows the user to change its behavior without modifying the data generation device, such as an external program operated by predetermined commands or a dynamically linked shared library. The user-defined function may also call another program to generate a design pattern.

[0133] The user-defined function execution unit 112 executes a user-defined function for each section SC, and generates a design pattern for that section SC.

[0134] The drawing data generation unit 113 converts the design pattern generated by the user-defined function execution unit 112 for each section SC into a drawing pattern, and generates drawing data for each section SC. The generated drawing data is stored in the drawing data storage unit 114. The drawing data storage unit 114 stores drawing data (bitmap file) for each section SC.

[0135] The stripe data generator 115 combines the drawing data stored in the drawing data storage unit 114 to generate stripe data.

[0136] Typically, writing data is generated by generating a target pattern, converting the target pattern into a design pattern, and then converting the design pattern into a writing pattern, but according to the second embodiment, design patterns are generated as needed using a user-defined function, eliminating the need to prepare target pattern data and design data in advance, thereby reducing the time required to complete writing data generation.

[0137] 17(B) is a diagram showing the configuration of an exposure system 500B' according to a modification of the second embodiment. The exposure system 500B' includes a data generating apparatus 100B' and an exposure apparatus 200. The configuration of the exposure apparatus 200 is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0138] In the modified example of the second embodiment, a data generating device 100B′ includes a data acquiring unit 121 , a user-defined function storage unit 122 , a user-defined function executing unit 123 , a drawing data generating unit 124 , a drawing data storage unit 125 , and a stripe data generating unit 126 .

[0139] The data acquisition unit 121 acquires design data. The user-defined function storage unit 122 stores user-defined functions. The user-defined functions in the modified example are functions for performing predetermined processing (e.g., performing OPC or readjusting OPC) on the design pattern of each section SC extracted from the design data.

[0140] The user-defined function execution unit 123 sequentially extracts design patterns corresponding to each section SC from the design patterns acquired by the data acquisition unit 121, and performs a predetermined processing on the extracted design patterns (processes the design patterns) by executing a user-defined function on the extracted design patterns, and outputs them to the drawing data generation unit 124 as design patterns in the section SC.

[0141] The drawing data generating unit 124 converts the design pattern input from the user-defined function executing unit 123 into a drawing pattern to generate drawing data for the section SC, and stores the generated drawing data in the drawing data storage unit 125 .

[0142] The stripe data generator 126 combines the drawing data for each section SC stored in the drawing data storage unit 125 to generate stripe data.

[0143] According to the modified example of the second embodiment, when generating drawing data, predetermined processing can be performed on design data using a user-defined function, thereby improving the degree of freedom in generating drawing data.

[0144] Third Embodiment In the third embodiment, a case where drawing data used to manufacture a planar optical element called a metasurface is generated will be described using a metalens as an example. As shown in FIG. 18 , a metalens is a lens having a structure in which a pattern finer than the wavelength of target light is arranged on a flat plate.

[0145] The drawing data for the drawing pattern used to manufacture the metalens can be generated by performing OPC on target pattern data to obtain design data, and then converting the design data into drawing data. However, the larger the diameter of the metalens, the larger the file size of the design data representing the design pattern obtained by performing OPC on the target pattern. For example, for a diameter of 1 mm, the design data file size may be only several tens of MB, but for a diameter of 180 mm, it is expected to be several hundred GB. While the use of the drawing data generation method of the second embodiment eliminates the need to create a huge file, generating drawing data from design data having such a large file size may require, for example, several weeks to several months.

[0146] Therefore, in the third embodiment, drawing data for a drawing pattern is generated without generating design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the exposure pattern of the metasurface.

[0147] 19 is a diagram showing the configuration of an exposure system 500C according to the third embodiment. The exposure system 500C includes a data generating apparatus 100C and an exposure apparatus 200. The configuration of the exposure apparatus 200 is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0148] The data generating device 100C according to the third embodiment includes a small pattern storage unit 131, a user-defined function storage unit 132, a user-defined function execution unit 133, a writing data generating unit 134, a writing data storage unit 135, and a stripe data generating unit 136.

[0149] As shown in Figure 20, the small pattern storage unit 131 stores drawing data that indicates multiple drawing patterns (hereinafter referred to as small patterns SP) that are smaller than the drawing pattern of the entire metalens.

[0150] The user-defined function storage unit 132 stores functions defined by a user. In the third embodiment, small patterns SP are combined and pasted in each section SC to generate writing data for each section SC. Therefore, the user-defined function in the third embodiment is a function that outputs, for each section SC, at least information specifying a small pattern to be pasted in the section SC for which writing data is to be created, from the small patterns SP stored in the small pattern storage unit 131, and the position at which the small pattern is to be pasted. Note that the small patterns SP may be pasted according to other rules instead of the user-defined function.

[0151] The user-defined function execution unit 133 executes the user-defined function for each section SC to paste the small pattern SP in the section SC and generate drawing data for each section SC. The generated drawing data for each section SC is stored in the drawing data storage unit 135.

[0152] The stripe data generator 136 combines the drawing data of each section SC stored in the drawing data storage unit 135 to generate stripe data.

[0153] As described above, according to the third embodiment, drawing data for each section SC is generated by combining and pasting small patterns SP in each section SC. This reduces the time required to generate drawing data representing a drawing pattern for a metasurface compared to generating a drawing pattern by converting a design pattern. The third embodiment may be applied not only to generating drawing patterns for metalenses, but also to generating other drawing patterns. Furthermore, stripe data may be generated directly without creating drawing data for each section SC. In this case, the data generation time can be reduced by omitting data generation at an intermediate stage.

[0154] The above processing functions can be realized by a computer. In this case, a program is provided that describes the processing content of the functions that the processing device should have. By executing the program on a computer, the above processing functions are realized on the computer. The program that describes the processing content can be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium (excluding carrier waves).

[0155] When distributing a program, the program is sold in the form of a portable storage medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) on which the program is recorded. Alternatively, the program can be stored in the storage device of a server computer and transferred from the server computer to other computers via a network.

[0156] A computer that executes a program stores, for example, a program recorded on a portable storage medium or a program transferred from a server computer in its own storage device. The computer then reads the program from its own storage device and executes processing in accordance with the program. Note that the computer can also read the program directly from a portable storage medium and execute processing in accordance with that program. The computer can also execute processing in accordance with the program received each time a program is transferred from the server computer.

[0157] In the above-described embodiment, a process of deforming or adding a shape within an existing layer was performed. However, a process of adding a new layer with a different transmittance may also be performed. For example, a process of improving imaging performance by adding a phase shifter around the pattern may be included. The transmittance of such a phase shifter is typically about 6%. The optical path length of the phase shifter portion is determined so that the phases of light passing through the phase shifter portion and light passing through the transmissive portion (or the reflective portion in the case of a reflective type) are inverted. Note that the transmittance given here is used for calculation purposes and does not need to match the transmittance of materials available for actual photomask manufacturing; any value may be set.

[0158] At least some of the constituent elements of each of the above-described embodiments can be appropriately combined with at least some of the other constituent elements of each of the above-described embodiments. Some of the constituent elements of each of the above-described embodiments may not be used. Furthermore, to the extent permitted by law, the disclosures of all publications and U.S. patents cited in each of the above-described embodiments are incorporated herein by reference.

[0159] The above-described embodiment is a preferred example of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0160] 100A, 100B, 100B', 100C Data generating device 102 Display control unit 103 First drawing data generating unit 104 Second drawing data generating unit 106 Reception unit 112 User-defined function execution unit 113, 124, 134 Drawing data generating unit 200 Exposure apparatus 500A, 500B, 500B', 500C Exposure system

Claims

1. 1. A method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light that has passed through the spatial light modulator, comprising the steps of: generating design data indicative of a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern using a user defined function; generating the drawing data for the drawing pattern by converting the design data; A method for generating drawing data executed by a computer.

2. generating the design data includes performing a user-defined function for each location within the substrate; The drawing data generating method according to claim 1 .

3. generating the design data includes, for each location within the substrate, executing a user defined function on a pre-generated first design pattern; The drawing data generating method according to claim 1 .

4. 1. A method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light that has passed through the spatial light modulator, comprising the steps of: acquiring drawing data for each of a plurality of different drawing patterns that are generated in advance and have a size smaller than the drawing pattern; generating the drawing data of the drawing patterns by arranging the drawing data of the plurality of different drawing patterns according to a predetermined rule; A method for generating drawing data executed by a computer.

5. the predetermined rule is a user-defined function; The drawing data generating method according to claim 4.

6. 1. A drawing data generating device that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate by exposure light passing through the spatial light modulator, comprising: a first generation unit that generates design data indicating a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern by using a function defined by a user; a second generation unit that generates the drawing data of the drawing pattern by converting the design data; A drawing data generating device comprising:

7. 1. A drawing data generating device that generates drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate by exposure light passing through the spatial light modulator, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires drawing data of each of a plurality of different drawing patterns that are generated in advance and have a size smaller than the drawing pattern; a generating unit that generates the drawing data of the drawing patterns by arranging the drawing data of the plurality of different drawing patterns according to a predetermined rule; A drawing data generating device comprising:

8. A drawing data generation program that causes a computer to execute the method according to claim 1.

9. A drawing data generation program that causes a computer to execute the method according to claim 4.

10. 1. A method for generating drawing data indicating a drawing pattern to be formed by a spatial light modulator in order to form a predetermined exposure pattern on a substrate using exposure light that has passed through the spatial light modulator, comprising the steps of: displaying design data indicative of a design pattern corresponding to the predetermined exposure pattern; identifying a second partial design pattern that is the same as a first partial design pattern within a designated area that is designated using the displayed image of the design data from among the design patterns; generating partial writing data corresponding to the first partial design pattern within the specified region; setting the generated partial lithography data as partial lithography data corresponding to the specified second partial design pattern; A method for generating drawing data executed by a computer.

11. the partial lithography data corresponding to the second partial design pattern is generated by copying the partial lithography data corresponding to the first partial design pattern; the partial drawing data corresponding to the first partial design pattern is assigned to a drawing data coordinate system as a part of the drawing data based on a position of the first partial design pattern within the design pattern; 11. The method for generating drawing data according to claim 10, wherein the partial drawing data corresponding to the second partial design pattern is assigned on the drawing data coordinates as another part of the drawing data based on a position of the second partial design pattern within the design pattern.

12. 12. The method of generating drawing data according to claim 10, wherein the specifying is performed using an image of the design data that is displayed.

13. 12. The method for generating drawing data according to claim 10, wherein the specifying step includes searching for an area having the same pattern as the design pattern in the designated area from within the design pattern.

14. the design pattern includes a second pattern including a plurality of first patterns repeatedly arranged, 12. The method for generating drawing data according to claim 10, wherein the designated region is at least one of a region in the design pattern in which the first pattern is located and a region in the design pattern in which the second pattern is located.