Shape-based proximity effect correction method for throughput, fidelity, and contrast enhancement of electron-beam writer


 Conventional shape-based proximity effect correction (PEC) methods can only improve pattern fidelity and present a risk to correction effectiveness under severe resist-contour distortions for electron-beam writers. Herein, a shape-based PEC method for effectively improving both the pattern fidelity and energy slope without the risk in realizing high throughput, fidelity, and contrast is presented. An extra-framed pattern added to the target pattern is optimized to achieve better trade-off between contrast improvement and writing-time reduction. The proposed method demonstrated significant improvements in lithographic performance compared with the conventional and dose-based PEC methods for high-numerical-aperture extreme-ultraviolet mask and aggressive patterns.