LENS HEATING AWARE SOURCE MASK OPTIMIZATION FOR ADVANCED LITHOGRAPHY

PURPOSE: A lens heating awareness source mask optimization for advanced next generation lithography is provided to provide a tool which optimizes a lighting source and mask design layouts used in a lithography apparatus and a process thereof. CONSTITUTION: According to a computer-implementation method, a lithography process is improved which images a part of a design layout on a substrate by using a lithography projection apparatus including a lighting source and a projection optical device. A multi-variable cost function of a plurality of design variables which are characteristics of a lithography process is computed. The characteristics of the lithography process are reconfigured, by adjusting the design variables until a predetermined ending condition is satisfied. At least a part of the design variables are the characteristics of the lighting source and the design layout. Computation of the multi-variable cost function explains the influence for the optical characteristics of the induced projection optical device by imaging a part of the design layout with the lighting source through the projection optical device. [Reference numerals] (405) Acquire the characteristics of design variables of a lighting source, a mask design layout, and a projection optical device; (410) Determine optical aberrations induced by heating a lens using the design variables; (415) Define a projection optical device model including the determined optical aberrations; (420) Perform SMO using the projection optical model including the optical variables induced by heating the lens; (425) Output results