DEVELOPING A FAST IMAGING ALGORITHM USING DECOMPOSITION METHODS

Abstract

Aerial image computation has become a crucial component for Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) in microlithography. The currently used partially coherent illumination has caused intensive computation and inadequate speed. Based on the newly-developed VDER technique, a fast imaging algorithm is described using decomposition methods in the spatial domain. Truncations of the expansion employed leads to great computational advantages. Examples are then presented in which GDS masks are loaded and aerial image profiles are computed and displayed for given illumination and projection system parameters. The proposed algorithm proves to be fast and viable.