With the push toward the 32nm node, Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) modeling must respond in kind with additional accuracy enhancements. One area of lithographic modeling that has basically gone unchecked is mask fidelity. Mask linearity is typically built into the OPC model since the calibration data contain this information, but mask pattern fidelity is almost impossible to quantify for OPC modeling.


This paper evaluates techniques to quantify mask modeling and methods to gauge the accuracy improvement that mask fidelity modeling would project into the lithographic process using contour-based mask model calibration.

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