Multiple patterning layout decomposition considering complex coloring rules

Multiple patterning lithography has been recognized as one of the most promising solutions, in addition to extreme ultraviolet lithography, directed self-assembly, nanoimprint lithography, and electron beam lithography, for advancing the resolution limit of conventional optical lithography. Multiple patterning layout decomposition (MPLD) becomes more challenging as advanced technology introduces complex coloring rules. Existing works model MPLD as a graph coloring problem; nevertheless, when complex coloring rules are considered, layout decomposition can no longer be modeled accurately by graph coloring. Therefore, in this paper, for capturing the essence of layout decomposition with complex coloring rules, we model the MPLD problem as an exact cover problem. We then propose a fast and exact MPLD framework based on augmented dancing links. Our method is flexible and general: It can consider the basic and complex coloring rules simultaneously, and it can handle quadruple patterning and beyond. Experimental results show that our approach outperforms state-of-the-art works on reported conflicts and stitches and is promising for handling complex coloring rules as well.