Abstract

Mask patterns are typically designed by using computer-aided design (CaliforniaD) tools. They support such features as line, rectangle, circle, and arc generation. The mask pattern is composed of enclosed areas defined by these line-drawing features. For photonic devices such as optical waveguides, patterns are fractured into rectangles. A complete mask pattern may contain tens of thousands of rectangles. It may take 20 min for a computer to display the entire mask pattern. We have developed an efficient approach. The waveguide patterns are fractured into two files. One data file contains detailed data, and the other data file contains simplified data for display. For example, in the case of an S-shaped bend, every 10 rectangles can be lumped together to form a parallelogram for display. For a circular contact pad, the simplified data file contains only the coordinates of the center and the radius. In this way, the display speed can be increased by one to two orders of magnitude. After the mask pattern is completed, a program is used to insert detailed data into the data base that describes the mask pattern. Such an approach has been successfully incorporated into the Opto-MASK program.

© 1990 Optical Society of America