Lithographic Image Simulation for the 21st Century with 19th-Century Tools

The current methodologies used to simulate the intensity distribution in air above the resist were discussed. A methodology was developed to eliminate the expensive numerical integrations in the transmission cross coefficients (TCC) calculations. It was shown that with the burden of computing these numbers lightened, more accurate representations of the image field can be realized, and better overall models are then possible. It was concluded that the results are only limited by the physical approximations imposed by the necessity for mathematical simplicity.