Shot reduction technique for character projection lithography using combined cell stencil

Taisuke Kazama; Makoto Ikeda; Kunihiro Asada

doi:10.1117/12.632051

7 November 2005 Shot reduction technique for character projection lithography using combined cell stencil

Taisuke Kazama, Makoto Ikeda, Kunihiro Asada

Proceedings Volume 5992, 25th Annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology; 59922V (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.632051
Event: SPIE Photomask Technology, 2005, Monterey, California, United States

Abstract

We propose a combined cell stencil (CCS), a shot reduction method, for character projection lithography (CPL). Electron Beam Direct Writing (EBDW) has been focused on the maskless chip fabrications, in terms both of quick turn-around-time and chip fabrication cost reduction for the nano-meter VLSI processes. EDBW, however, suffers from less throughput performance than the conventional optical lithography. CPL, which employs stencil masks to utilize the pattern beam, has been reported to reduce numbers of shots to 1/10 to 1/15 compared with the conventional variable shaped beam projection. The conventional cell stencil consists of a single cell layout pattern. The proposed CCS consists of two or more cell layouts, which are frequently connected to each other in netlists. We find frequently connected cell pairs in netlists to form new stencil patterns, as CCSes. Assuming that the frequently connected cells are usually placed close to each other on layout, timing closure will not be seriously degraded with this method. We evaluated the proposed method in terms of numbers of shots in layout patterns generated from place and route tools, whose netlists are replaced with the CCSes from the original cells, which is completely compatible with the conventional cell-based design flow. We applied the proposed method to a microprocessor design and demonstrated 22.4% shots reduction with 4.4% area increase compared with the previously reported shot reduction method for CPL. We also carried out IWLS (International Workshop on Logic Synthesis) benchmarks to show the reusability of the generated CCS stencil masks.

Citation Download Citation

Taisuke Kazama, Makoto Ikeda, and Kunihiro Asada "Shot reduction technique for character projection lithography using combined cell stencil", Proc. SPIE 5992, 25th Annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology, 59922V (7 November 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.632051

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