In order to simulate properties of an optical production system, use is made of an optical measurement system comprising an illumination optical unit for an object to be imaged having a pupil stop in the region of an illumination pupil and an imaging optical unit for imaging the object. In order to optimize a pupil stop shape of the pupil stop, firstly a starting stop shape of the pupil stop is predefined as an initial design candidate for the simulation. The starting stop shape is modified and at least one fabrication boundary condition of the corresponding modification stop shape is checked. The steps modifying and checking are repeated until the checking reveals compliance with the boundary conditions. A match quality between the properties of the optical production system and those of the optical measurement system is determined and the steps modifying, checking and determining are repeated until the match quality attains a predefined optimization criterion, which is queried. A target stop shape resulting from the target stop shape that occurred with the smallest merit function value E in the optimization is fabricated as an optimized pupil stop shape after attaining the optimization criterion. This results in simulationas free of deviations as possibleof the illumination and imaging properties of the optical production system during the illumination and imaging of the object by use of the optical measurement system.

An overlay correction method for improving an overlay parameter of an ultra-high order component includes: obtaining misalignment components of an overlay through measurement; converting the misalignment components into overlay parameters; applying a conversion logic between the overlay parameters; converting the overlay parameters into aberration input data; and performing an exposure process by applying the aberration input data to an exposure machine, wherein the overlay parameters are divided into a first overlay parameter shifting in a first direction that is an extending direction of a slit, and a second overlay parameter shifting in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction, and the performing of the exposure process includes correcting the first and second overlay parameters including a higher-order component of a 3rd order or greater with respect to a location of the slit in the first direction.

A method of enhancing a layout pattern includes determining a vector transmission cross coefficient (vector-TCC) operator of an optical system of a lithographic system based on an illumination source of the optical system and an exit pupil of the optical system of the lithographic system. The method also includes performing an optical proximity correction (OPC) operation of a layout pattern of a photo mask to generate an OPC corrected layout pattern. The OPC operation uses the vector-TCC operator to determine a projected pattern of the layout pattern of the photo mask on a wafer. The method includes producing the OPC corrected layout pattern on a mask blank to create a photo mask.

A system, may include a controller configured to cause the processors to implement a measurement recipe by: receiving optical measurement data for training samples after a first process step for fabricating complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) under array (CuA) devices, wherein the CuA devices include first structures with a non-uniform spatial distribution; classifying the first structures into spatially-continuous regions based on unsupervised clustering; receiving optical measurement data for the training samples after a second process step, wherein the CuA devices after the second process step include periodic second structures above the first structures; developing effective medium models for the first structures; developing measurement models for determining measurements of the CuA devices; receiving optical measurement data for test samples after the second process step; and generating values of the metrology measurements of the second structures based on the optical measurement data for the test samples and the measurement models.

A metrology system having an optical measurement system serves to simulate illumination and imaging properties of an optical production system when an object is illuminated and imaged. The optical measurement system has an illumination optical unit serving to illuminate the object and having a pupil stop in the region of an illumination pupil in a pupil plane, and an imaging optical unit for imaging the object in an image plane. At least one pupil stop for specifying a plurality of measurement illumination settings created by displacing the pupil stop in the pupil plane is provided within the scope of the simulation method. Measurement aerial images are recorded in the image plane for various displacement positions of the object perpendicular to the object plane with the various measurement illumination settings. The various measurement illumination settings are specified by displacing the pupil stop. A complex mask transfer function is reconstructed from the recorded measurement aerial images. A 3-D aerial image of the optical production system is determined from the reconstructed mask transfer function and a given illumination setting of the optical production system as the result of the simulation method. The reconstruction includes the fact that profiles of stop edges of the at least one pupil stop which effectively act to specify the respective measurement illumination setting are changed in a manner going beyond a pure displacement of the stop edge when the respective measurement illumination setting is specified on the basis of the displacement position of the pupil stop. This results in an improvement of the simulation method.

A method for calculating a spatial map associated with a component, the spatial map indicating spatial variations of thermal expansion parameters in the component, the method comprising: providing or determining a temperature distribution in the component as a function of time; calculating the spatial map associated with the component using the provided or determined temperature distribution in the component and optical measurements of a radiation beam that has interacted directly or indirectly with the component, the optical measurements being time synchronized with the provided or determined temperature distribution in the component.

Provided are a method of configuring an optimized extreme ultraviolet (EUV) illumination system, and an EUV exposure method using the EUV illumination system. The method of configuring the EUV illumination system includes calculating an aerial image by performing an optical simulation with respect to each of EUV point sources, summing up the aerial images based on EUV mapping, searching for a combination of the EUV point sources by using a fitness value with respect to the summed aerial image, and configuring the EUV illumination system as a combination of the EUV point sources, which has a maximum fitness value.

The invention provides a method for thermo-mechanical control of a heat sensitive element (MI) subject to a heat load, comprising: providing a non-linear thermo-mechanical model of the heat sensitive element describing a dynamical relationship between characteristics of the heat load and deformation of the heat sensitive element; calculating a control signal on the basis of an optimization calculation of the non-linear model, providing an actuation signal to a heater (HE), wherein the actuation signal is at least partially based on the control signal, heating the heat sensitive element by the heater on the basis of the actuation signal.

A system, may include a controller configured to cause the processors to implement a measurement recipe by: receiving optical measurement data for training samples after a first process step for fabricating complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) under array (CuA) devices, wherein the CuA devices include first structures with a non-uniform spatial distribution; classifying the first structures into spatially-continuous regions based on unsupervised clustering; receiving optical measurement data for the training samples after a second process step, wherein the CuA devices after the second process step include periodic second structures above the first structures; developing effective medium models for the first structures; developing measurement models for determining measurements of the CuA devices; receiving optical measurement data for test samples after the second process step; and generating values of the metrology measurements of the second structures based on the optical measurement data for the test samples and the measurement models.

A laser processing system includes a laser apparatus configured to output pulse laser light; a diffractive optical element configured to divide the pulse laser light into multiple first diffracted luminous fluxes to be radiated to multiple processing points on a workpiece, and multiple second diffracted luminous fluxes to be radiated to multiple non-processing points on the workpiece; a focusing optical system configured to focus each of the first and second diffracted luminous fluxes at the workpiece; an adjustment mechanism configured to adjust pulse energy of the pulse laser light incident on the diffractive optical element; and a processor configured to control the adjustment mechanism based on parameters including a processing threshold Fth of a fluence for processing the workpiece in such a way that a fluence F.sub.OKm of the first diffracted luminous fluxes at a surface of the workpiece is greater than the processing threshold Fth, and a fluence F.sub.NGm of the second diffracted luminous fluxes at the surface of the workpiece is smaller than or equal to the processing threshold Fth.