Pattern matching for identifying and resolving non-decomposition-friendly designs for double patterning technology (DPT)

A pattern matching methodology that identifies non-decomposition-friendly designs and provides localized guidance for layout-fixing is presented for double patterning lithography. This methodolog y uses a library of patterns in which each pattern has been pre-characterized as impossible-to-decompose and annotated with a design rule for guiding the layout fixes. A pattern matching engine identifies these problematic patterns in design, which allows the layout designers to anticipate and prevent d ecomposition errors, prior to layout decomposition. The methodology has been demonstrated on a 180 um 2 layout migrated from the previous 28nm technology node for the metal 1 layer. Using a small library of just 18 patterns, the pattern matching engine identified 119 out of 400 decomposition errors, which constituted coverage of 29.8%. Keywords: Pattern matching, odd-cycles, coloring conflicts, double patterning, decomposition, design flow, design rule, DRC Plus, automated decomposition algorithm, DPT