JP2801970B2 - Generating exposure data - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for generating exposure data, and more particularly to a method for generating a large amount of exposure data.

In recent years, LSI (Large Scale Integratedci
With the increase in the scale of the rcuit, the size (data amount) of exposure data generated in the process from the design of the LSI to the mask drawing tends to increase more and more. For example, for a 4 mega DRAM, several hundred megabytes or 16
With mega DRAMs, extremely large exposure data of several tens of gigabytes has been created.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of conventional exposure data generation. The computer sequentially reads the LSI design data, executes a predetermined process, and stores the processing result (exposure data) in a storage medium (for example, a magnetic disk or a metal tape:
M / T).

Here, the required number of storage media depends on the size of exposure data. For example, a 16 M DRAM requires a plurality of M / Ts. The generation of the exposure data is completed when the data is output to the last storage medium, and the plurality of storage media are conveyed to the exposure apparatus and are sequentially set in the exposure apparatus.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention divides design data of a semiconductor integrated circuit into a plurality of data having adjacent portions overlapping each other as shown in FIG.
Multiple of each of the number of data further overlapping adjacent parts
Divided into small data of one of the plurality of data.
Processing the plurality of small data constituting data in parallel
Generating exposure data corresponding to the data,
Exposure data generated is transferred to the exposure device via the intermediate storage device.
Exposure processing of the exposure data by the exposure apparatus.
While one of the plurality of data is
The plurality of small data to be processed in parallel to
It is characterized in that corresponding exposure data is generated .

[0006]

According to the present invention, in the design data, adjacent portions overlap.
Divided into a plurality of data
Is further divided into multiple small data
Parallel processing of multiple small data that make up one data
To generate exposure data. Also, depending on the exposure device
During exposure processing of the exposure data, one data
Exposure data is generated by processing multiple small data
You. Therefore, adjacent data generated by dividing the design data
Of wiring and patterns that span data groups and adjacent small data groups.
Avoid missing data and improve data transferability
A series of data generation processing is completed for each data,
Processing time can be reduced.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention divides design data of a semiconductor integrated circuit into several data groups as shown in FIG. Is further divided into several small data groups, exposure data of the small data groups constituting the one data group are generated in parallel, and the generated exposure data is supplied to the exposure apparatus via the intermediate storage device. It is characterized by.

[0008]

According to the present invention, design data is divided into several data groups, and exposure data is generated for each data group.

[0009] intermediate storage device 12, for one data group A _i, during its until all exposure data D _i-1 ~D _i-9 is produced, to continue the storage operation, with the completion of generation All the stored data Di _{-1 to} Di _-9 are transferred to the exposure device 13. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the operation flow of FIG. First reads design data in step S _1, adjacent the design data read in step S ₂ parts
The data is divided into several data groups A _i so that the minutes slightly overlap . Then removed one data group A ₁ in step S _3, further adjacent portions are slightly overlapping it
Sea urchin, is divided into nine small data group A _1-1 to A _1-9. Then, each of the steps S ₄ nine small data group A _1-1 to A _1-9 allocated to each CPU in parallel generate exposure data, the generated exposure data temporarily stored in step S _5. With nine generation completion exposure data to D _1-1 to D _1-9, and transfers them to the exposure apparatus in step S _6, the process returns to step S ₃ again, retrieves the next data group A ₂ The above processing is repeated.

[0010] That is, in the intermediate storage device 12, first of all, the exposure data D _1-1 to D _1-9 data group A ₁ is retained, then the data group A ₂ exposure data D _2-1 ~ D _2-9 ,
Then, the exposure data D _{3-1 to} D _3-9 of the data group A ₃ and finally the exposure data D _{4-1 to} D _4-9 of the data group A ₄ are held. Thus, in the present embodiment, the design data is
Since the exposure data is generated for each divided data by dividing it into quarters so that the portions slightly overlap, the size of one exposure data can be reduced to one fourth. , it is possible to improve the data transfer performance between the exposure device using the bus transfer and the like, the data min
To adjacent data group and adjacent small data group
It is possible to avoid a missing wiring or pattern that straddles.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes an EWS (Engineering Workstation: Engin-eering Work Statio).
n) and 11 are multiple CPUs (Central Processing Units)
, 12 is an intermediate storage device, and 13 is an exposure device. These components are connected by buses 14, 15, and 16. As shown in FIG. 3, a local area network (LAN) may be configured by a plurality of EWSs.

FIG. 4 is a functional conceptual diagram of the EWS 10 and the parallel computer 11. The frame A in the figure is the LS read into the EWS10.
1 schematically shows I design data. The EWS 10 in this embodiment divides the design data indicated by the frame A into four data groups A _i (i is 1 to 4), and sequentially transfers each data group A _i to the parallel computer 11.

It is desirable that the size of the small data group correspond to, for example, the minimum exposure range of the exposure apparatus, that is, the exposure range of only beam deflection.

[0014] intermediate storage device 12, for one data group A _i, during its until all exposure data D _i-1 ~D _i-9 is produced, to continue the storage operation, with the completion of generation All the stored data Di _{-1 to} Di _-9 are transferred to the exposure device 13.

Next, referring to the operation flow of FIG.
The operation of the embodiment will be described. First, step S₁With design de
Data and read the design data in step S_Two
Some data groups A_iDivided into Then, step
S_ThreeAnd one data group A₁And take 9 more
Small data group A_1-1~ A_1-9Divided into And step
S_FourAnd 9 small data groups A_1-1~ A_1-9Each of each
Exposure data is generated in parallel by assigning it to the CPU.
Step S_FiveTo store temporarily. D_1-1~ D
_1-9When generation of the nine exposure data up to
S ₆Transfer them to the exposure tool at
Top S_ThreeAnd returns to the next data group A_TwoTake out the above process
Repeat the process.

[0016] That is, in the intermediate storage device 12, first of all, the exposure data D _1-1 to D _1-9 data group A ₁ is retained, then the data group A ₂ exposure data D _2-1 ~ D _2-9 ,
Then, exposure data D _3-1 to D _3-9 data group A _3, finally, the exposure data D _4-1 to D _4-9 data group A ₄ is maintained.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the design data is divided into quarters and the exposure data is generated for each divided data, so that the size of one exposure data is reduced to 1/4. The data transferability with the exposure apparatus can be improved by using a bus transfer or the like.

Further, exposure data generation and exposure processing can be performed in parallel, and the LSI manufacturing process can be shortened. That is, in FIG. 6, in the conventional example, since it is not possible to proceed to the exposure processing unless a series of exposure data generation is completed, the total work time is the sum of the exposure data generation time + the exposure processing time I was

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the exposure data generation and the exposure processing can be partially overlapped (except for the first exposure data processing). It can be shortened by the total overlap time.

The method of dividing the design data is as follows.
There are two methods: a method of dividing the whole into substantially equal parts, and a method of determining the number of divisions and the division points so that the pattern density of each division becomes uniform. According to the former method, the processing time of each CPU of the parallel computer may vary, but on the other hand, there is an advantage that the division determination algorithm can be simplified and the overhead can be reduced. It is suitable. On the other hand, the latter method requires a complicated algorithm to determine the optimal number of divisions and division points, but has the advantage that the processing time of each CPU can be made uniform, and the pattern density is largely biased. It is suitable for LSI.

It is desirable that the size of the small data group correspond to, for example, the minimum exposure range of the exposure apparatus, that is, the exposure range of only beam deflection. Further, it is desirable that adjacent data groups and adjacent small data groups slightly overlap each other. As a result, it is possible to avoid the loss of the wiring or the pattern extending over the adjacent data group and the adjacent small data group caused by the data division.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the design data of a semiconductor integrated circuit is divided into several data groups, and exposure data is generated for each data group, so that data transferability is improved. And the processing time can be shortened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram using a LAN according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a functional conceptual diagram of an EWS and a parallel computer according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a comparison diagram with a conventional example for explaining the effect of reducing the processing time of one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 EWS 11 Parallel computer 12 Intermediate storage device 13 Exposure device 14 Bus 15 Bus 16 Bus A LSI design data A _i Data group A _in Small data group

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An adjacent portion stores design data of a semiconductor integrated circuit.
Dividing into a plurality of overlapping data, and each of the plurality of data is further overlapped in adjacent portions.
Divided into a plurality of small data, and constituting one data of the plurality of data.
Exposure corresponding to the data by processing a plurality of small data in parallel
Generating data, and exposing the generated exposure data via an intermediate storage device.
During exposure processing of the exposure data by the exposure apparatus.
Comprises one of the plurality of data
Process the plurality of small data in parallel to correspond to the data
A method for generating exposure data, characterized by generating exposure data.