A new algorithm for layout of dark field alternating phase shifting masks

A new methodology is proposed to accelerate AltPSM design flow for dark field AltPSM for large-scale layouts. When scaling to large-scale layouts, designing AltPSM may be much time consuming. Our new algorithm solves this problem by splitting a layout into smaller, easier-to-solve parts, solving the sub-layouts independently and simultaneously, and then recombining the sub-layouts. The experimental results on industry layouts indicate that parallel algorithm has potential to provide more significant improvement in speed and achieve a better quality of solutions.