MASK INSPECTION PROCESS ACCOUNTING FOR MASK WRITER PROXIMITY CORRECTION

摘要

A mask inspection method and system. Provided is a mask fabrication database describing geometrical shapes S to be printed as part of a mask pattern on a reticle to fabricate a mask through use of a mask fabrication tooling. The shapes S appear on the mask as shapes S' upon being printed. At least one of the shapes S' may be geometrically distorted relative to a corresponding at least one of the shapes S due to a lack of precision in the mask fabrication tooling. Also provided is a mask inspection database to be used for inspecting the mask after the mask has been fabricated by the mask fabrication tooling. The mask inspection database describes shapes S'' approximating the shapes S'. A geometric distortion between the shapes S' and S'' is less than a corresponding geometric distortion between the shapes S' and S.