Optical proximity correction (OPC) is crucial for pushing the boundaries of semiconductor manufacturing and enabling the continued scaling of integrated circuits. While pixel-based OPC, termed as inverse lithography technology (ILT), has gained research interest due to its flexibility and precision. Its complexity and intricate features can lead to challenges in mask writing, increased defects, and higher costs, hence hindering widespread industrial adoption. In this paper, we propose DiffOPC, a differentiable OPC framework that enjoys the virtue of both edge-based OPC and ILT. By employing a mask rule-aware gradient-based optimization approach, DiffOPC efficiently guides mask edge segment movement during mask optimization, minimizing wafer error by propagating true gradients from the cost function back to the mask edges. Our approach achieves lower edge placement error while reducing manufacturing cost by half compared to state-of-the-art OPC techniques, bridging the gap between the high accuracy of pixel-based OPC and the practicality required for industrial adoption, thus offering a promising solution for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

本研究解决了当前半导体制造中光学近似修正（OPC）技术在复杂性和工业化应用之间的差距。我们提出了DiffOPC，一个可微分的OPC框架，通过掺入边缘基OPC和反向光刻技术（ILT）的优点，优化了掩模边缘的移动，显著降低了边缘放置误差并将制造成本减少一半，为先进半导体制造提供了一种有效的解决方案。

可微分的边缘基光学近似修正