Model-Based Initial Bias (MIB): Toward a Single-Iteration Optical Proximity Correction.

In deep submicron nodes, the final design patterning quality depends profoundly on the optical proximity correction (OPC) quality. The required pattern fidelity and CD uniformity can never be achieved without good OPC. However, OPC runtime-resource factor has been exponentially increasing every technology node reaching alarming levels, where the OPC cost in terms of resources and turn-around-time is becoming very expensive. In this paper, we present a novel approach for speeding up the OPC convergence process using our model-based initial bias methodology. Our proposed methodology is based on building generic compact bias-models that can predict the final OPC shapes with a good accuracy using the optical simulation parameters. As a result, the OPC initial condition is much closer to the final solution and more than half of the OPC iterations can be saved as a result. In this paper, we present the details of our methodology and our compact initial-bias model we are proposing. We also present our testing results on a 10 nm metal level, where almost 50% of the OPC iterations could be saved when we apply our methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]