US 12,072,637 B2
Lithography method using multi-scale simulation, semiconductor device manufacturing method and exposure equipment
Byunghoon Lee, Suwon-si (KR); Changyoung Jeong, Suwon-si (KR); Byunggook Kim, Suwon-si (KR); Maenghyo Cho, Seoul (KR); Muyoung Kim, Seoul (KR); Junghwan Moon, Seoul (KR); Sungwoo Park, Seoul (KR); Hyungwoo Lee, Seoul (KR); and Joonmyung Choi, Seoul (KR)
Assigned to SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., Suwon-si (KR); and SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY R&DB FOUNDATION, Seoul (KR)
Filed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Suwon-si (KR)
Filed on Oct. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/971,297.
Application 17/971,297 is a continuation of application No. 16/593,149, filed on Oct. 4, 2019, granted, now 11,493,850.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/893,687, filed on Aug. 29, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2019-0089212 (KR), filed on Jul. 23, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0047588 A1, Feb. 16, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G03F 7/00 (2006.01); G05B 19/4097 (2006.01); H01L 21/027 (2006.01)
CPC G03F 7/705 (2013.01) [G05B 19/4097 (2013.01); H01L 21/0273 (2013.01); G05B 2219/45028 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An exposure equipment comprising:
a simulation device configured to perform a multi-scale simulation for resist, the simulation device including:
a first simulation unit configured to perform a quantum scale simulation,
a second simulation unit configured to model a unit lattice cell of a virtual resist including polymer chains via a molecular scale simulation, and
a third simulation unit configured to perform a continuum scale simulation that identifies polymer chains that are soluble within the unit lattice cell; and
an exposure device configured to perform an exposure process using a resist selected based on a result from the simulation device,
wherein, by comparing a test resist pattern formed by the exposure device with a virtual resist pattern of the virtual resist estimated by the simulation device, when an error between the test resist pattern and the virtual resist pattern is in an allowable range, a resist pattern is formed on an object to be patterned by using the selected resist,
wherein the polymer chains identified as soluble by the continuum scale simulation of the third simulation unit are removed from the unit lattice cell being modeled by the molecular scale simulation of the second simulation unit.