US 11,899,374 B2
Method for determining an electromagnetic field associated with a computational lithography mask model
Xingyue Peng, San Jose, CA (US); and Jingjing Liu, San Jose, CA (US)
Assigned to ASML Netherlands B.V., Veldhoven (NL)
Appl. No. 17/047,441
Filed by ASML NETHERLANDS B.V., Veldhoven (NL)
PCT Filed Apr. 16, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/059741
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Oct. 14, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/214909, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 14, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/668,024, filed on May 7, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0116816 A1, Apr. 22, 2021
Int. Cl. G06F 7/20 (2006.01); G03F 7/00 (2006.01); G06F 17/14 (2006.01)
CPC G03F 7/705 (2013.01) [G06F 17/14 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for determining electromagnetic fields associated with a mask model of a patterning process, the method comprising:
obtaining, with a hardware computer system, a mask stack region of interest, the mask stack region of interest being divided into sub regions, the mask stack region of interest having one or more characteristics associated with propagation of electromagnetic waves through the mask stack region of interest;
generating, with the hardware computer system, one or more electromagnetic field determination expressions based on the Maxwell Equations and the Quantum Schrodinger Equation; and
determining, by the hardware computer system, an electromagnetic field associated with the mask stack region of interest based on the sub regions of the mask stack region of interest and the one or more characteristics associated with the propagation of electromagnetic waves through the mask stack region of interest, using the one or more electromagnetic field determination expressions.