Patent attributes
A method of the present disclosure includes receiving a design layout; performing routing to the design layout to obtain a routed layout including an interconnect structure including a first metal layer, a second metal layer over the first metal layer, a third metal layer over the second metal layer, and a plurality of functional vias; performing optical proximity correction (OPC) operations to the routed layout to obtain an OPC'ed layout; and modifying the OPC'ed layout to obtain a modified layout. The modifying of the routed layout includes inserting a first plurality of dummy vias between the first metal layer and the second metal layer to avoid horizontal bridging between two adjacent metal lines in the first metal layer, and inserting a second plurality of dummy vias between the second metal layer and the third metal layer to avoid vertical coupling to the first plurality of dummy vias.
