Hotspot Management In Which Mask Fabrication Errors Are Considered

Hotspot management in low k1 lithography is essential for the achievement of high yield in the manufacture of devices. We have developed a mask quality assurance system with hotspot management based on lithography simulation with SEM image edge extraction of actual mask patterns. However, there are issues concerning this hotspot management from the viewpoint of hotspot sampling and turnaround time.To solve these problems, we modify the mask quality assurance system by introducing dynamic adaptive sampling in which hotspots are sampled depending on actual mask fabrication quality. As a result, producer's and consumer's risks are efficiently reduced, and TAT for mask inspection is also reduced.