A tool to simulate optical lithography in nanoCMOs

This paper presents the research and development of an optical simulation tool based on wavelets. The tool helps to decide the implementation of Resolution Enhancement Techniques (RET) such as Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) and double patterning. Optical lithography simulation is an essential step in a Design for Manufacturability (DFM) flow. Simulation is used in mask printability enhancement methods. Mask printability is improved by creating a modified mask for which the printed features resemble closely the features on the original mask. However lithography simulation is a compute-intensive task and a fast simulation is required to allow feasible mask correcting algorithms.