OPTICAL PROXIMITY CORRECTION - A DETAIL COMPARISON OF TECHNIQUES AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS

The study presented here quantifies the benefit of optical proximity c orrection (OPC) for an I-line and a DUV wafer process in a systematic way. Masks and wafers made with 6 mask writing techniques and 5 OPC so ftware packages each with 6 degrees of aggressiveness were studied.:Th e benefits for 1-D corrections (isolated/dense bias), 1.5-D effects (l ine end pullback), and 2-D effects (corner rounding) were evaluated. F rom the accumulated data in the study, we can conclude that OPC featur es deliver significantly improved line width uniformity and pattern fi delity to etched wafers. The technology is effective and manufacturabl e with contemporary mask writers and OPC techniques. Data expansion an d mask inspection difficulty factors were also investigated.