Halftone PSM inspection sensitivity of OPC line/space pattern for 150-nm generation

The process of manufacturing and inspecting 150nm generation reticles, incorporating RETs - Resolution Enhancement Technologies - is discussed. Some of the RETs applied at the lithography stage while exposing the wafer, such as OAI - Off Axis Illumination, others RET are being incorporated into the reticle, such as OPC - Optical Proximity Correction - and PSM - Phase Shift is discussed. Many relevant aspects are discussed in this paper such as the ability to produce those critical layers while keeping good CD linearity, and the ability to detect OPC related defects with current reticle inspection technology.