1. Field
Embodiments relate to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device by using optical proximity correction (OPC).
2. Description of the Related Art
At the time of designing an integrated circuit (IC), in order to form a desired circuit on a semiconductor substrate, a layout of the circuit is fabricated, and then the layout may be transferred on a surface of a wafer via a photomask in a photolithography process. Since a design of an IC becomes more complicated with increasing integration of a semiconductor device, it is very important to exactly implement a pattern layout on a photomask according to an initial design.
Where the wavelength of the illumination source used in the exposing equipment approaches a feature size, a pattern may be distorted due to diffraction of the light, interference of the light, or the like. Accordingly, an optical proximity effect may occur, such that a shape different from an original shape may be formed on a wafer, or a pattern shape may be distorted due to an effect of an adjacent pattern. In order to prevent problems, e.g., dimensional changes, due to the optical proximity effect, an OPC operation is performed so that a design pattern is changed, in advance of the photomask formation, by predicting the dimensional change during a transfer of a pattern during photolithography, such that a pattern shape according to a desired layout may be obtained after the transfer of the pattern.