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Rigorous computer simulations of propagating electromagnetic fields have become an important tool for optical metrology and optics design of nanostructured components. As has been shown in previous benchmarks some of the presently used methods suffer from low convergence rates and/or low accuracy of the results and exhibit very long computation times 1, 2 which makes application to extended 2D layout patterns impractical. We address 3D simulation tasks by using a finite-element solver which has been shown to be superior to competing methods by several orders of magnitude in accuracy and computational time for typical microlithography simulations.2 We report on the current status of the solver, incorporating higher order edge elements, adaptive refinement methods, and fast solution algorithms. Further, we investigate the performance of the solver in the 3D simulation project of light diffraction off an alternating phase-shift contact-hole mask.

H. Kawahira, Eds.) and is made available as an electronic preprint with permission of SPIE. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited. ABSTRACTWe present rigorous 3D EMF simulations of isolated features on photomasks using a newly developed finiteelement method. We report on the current status of the finite-element solver JCMsuite, incorporating higherorder edge elements, adaptive refinement methods, and fast solution algorithms. We demonstrate that rigorous and accurate results on light scattering off isolated features can be achived at relatively low computational cost, compared to the standard approach of simulations on large-pitch, periodic computational domains.