Inverse lithography technology

Extracted Attributes

• Field

  Semiconductor Manufacturing

• Term Origin

  Coined by L. Pang at Luminescent Technologies in 2005

• Mask Shape Type

  Curvilinear

• Primary Function

  Optical Proximity Correction (OPC)

• Mathematical Model

  Inverse Imaging Problem

Timeline

• ILT concept is first proposed but remains impractical due to high computational requirements. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1980-01-01

• Luminescent Technologies applies ILT in semiconductor manufacturing for the first time using PSC algorithms. (Source: Nature (s41377-025-01923-w))

  2003-01-01

• Luminescent Technologies announces the first ILT product and the term 'inverse lithography technology' is coined. (Source: Nature (s41377-025-01923-w))

  2005-01-01

• Publication of 'Fast inverse lithography technology' by Abrams and Pang at SPIE. (Source: UCLA Department of Mathematics)

  2006-01-01

• Resurgence of industry interest in ILT due to significant increases in available computational power. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2009-01-01

• Reports indicate China achieves a breakthrough in EUV prototype development involving ILT research at Tsinghua University. (Source: Document 91d256cb-fefd-40c1-84da-c89cadb68e4f)

  2024-01-01

Inverse lithography

In semiconductor device fabrication, the inverse lithography technology (ILT) is an optical proximity correction approach to optimize photomask design. It is basically an approach to solve an inverse imaging problem: to calculate the shapes of the openings in a photomask ("source") so that the passing light produces a good approximation of the desired pattern ("target") on the illuminated material, typically a photoresist. As such, it is treated as a mathematical optimization problem of a special kind, because usually an analytical solution does not exist. In conventional approaches known as the optical proximity correction (OPC) a "target" shape is augmented with carefully tuned rectangles to produce a "Manhattan shape" for the "source", as shown in the illustration. The ILT approach generates curvilinear shapes for the "source", which deliver better approximations for the "target". The ILT was proposed in 1980s, however at that time it was impractical due to the huge required computational power and complicated "source" shapes, which presented difficulties for verification (design rule checking) and manufacturing. However in late 2000s developers started reconsidering ILT due to significant increases in computational power.

Web Search Results

• Inverse lithography - Wikipedia

  The inverse lithography technology (ILT) is an optical proximity correction approach to optimize photomask design.

• [PDF] Advances in Inverse Lithography - UCLA Department of Mathematics

  polygons in enhancing the PW of printed design patterns by increasing the exposure and focus ranges, for example, for which the patterns print within specified accuracy tolerances. Inverse lithography technology (ILT) is a method of solving the mask synthesis problem by setting the problem up as an inverse problem, where the observed metrics on the wafer of imaging precision, robustness, and PW are measured, and drive an inverse solver algorithm to produce a mask which optimizes the metrics on [...] hardware and software, we now are in the realm of the single-digit-nanometer design nodes at leading chip foundries. This paper will review the method of Inverse Lithography Technology, (ILT) which is the preferred computational method for photo-lithography. Indeed photo-lithographic masks were the first meta-surfaces, and still the most important meta-surface, economically, used in memory chips, storage, and microprocessors. Moreover, photolithographic mask designers were the early adopters of [...] Pang, "Fast inverse lithography technology," Proc. SPIE , vol. 6154 , 2006. C. Hung and et al, "First 65 nm tape-out using inverse lithography technology (ILT)," Proc. SPIE, vol. 5992 , 2005. L. Pang and et al, "Laser and e-beam mask-to-silicon with inverse lithography technology (ILT)," Proc. SPIE, vol. 5992, 2005. L. Pang, "Inverse lithography technology: 30 years from concept to practical, full-chip reality.," J. Micro/Nanopattern. Mats. Metro., vol. 20(3), 2021. M. Burger and et al,

• OpenILT: An Open Source Inverse Lithography Technique ...

  Inverse lithography technique (ILT) – is an im-portant field for optical proximity correction (OPC), treating mask optimization as an inverse problem of the imaging system. It aims at optimizing the carefully designed objective function and adjusting the pixel-wise mask backward. A variety of attempts have been made in ILT to improve both the printed pattern fidelity and the process robustness. It has been explored and developed as the next generation of OPC, promising a solution to challenges [...] OpenILT: An Open Source Inverse Lithography Technique Framework (Invited Paper) Su Zheng, Bei Yu, Martin Wong Chinese University of Hong Kong Abstract—Semiconductor lithography is a key process for fabricating integrated circuits, but it suffers from various distortions and variations that affect the quality of the printed patterns. Optical proximity correction (OPC) is a technique to improve pattern fidelity and robustness, and inverse lithography technique (ILT) is a promising OPC method that [...] V. CONCLUSION OpenILT is an open-source platform for inverse lithog-raphy technology (ILT) research. It has a comprehensive and flexible ecosystem of libraries that enable the efficient development and evaluation of ILT algorithm. The platform is implemented with PyTorch, which enables easy GPU acceleration and deep-learning integration. It is available at

• Advancements and challenges in inverse lithography technology

  Computational lithography optimizes the illumination sources and masks according to the target wafer patterns. Among computational lithography techniques, the inverse lithography technique (ILT) stands out for mask pixelization and global optimization capabilities, generating near-optimal solutions of OPC. The ILT algorithm design needs to balance computational complexity, accuracy, and stability. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have introduced transformative approaches to [...] In 2003, Luminescent Technologies applied ILT in semiconductor manufacturing for the first time, employing PSC algorithms for following fronts propagating with curvature-dependent speed109."). In 2005, Luminescent announced the first ILT product, and Pang from Luminescent coined the term “inverse lithography technology”. ILT demonstrated superior lithography quality compared to OPC. In 2006, Abrams et al. optimized masks by addressing the rigorous inverse problem of lithography, improving depth [...] Article ADS MathSciNet Google Scholar 110. Abrams, D. & Pang, L. Y. Fast inverse lithography technology. Proc. SPIE 6154, Optical Microlithography XIX (SPIE, San Jose, CA, USA, 2006). 111. Hung, C. Y. et al. Pushing the lithography limit: applying inverse lithography technology (ILT) at the 65nm generation. Proc. SPIE 6154, Optical Microlithography XIX (SPIE, San Jose, CA, USA, 2006).

• Research Progress of Inverse Lithography Technology

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