Certified Stratified Phase Diagrams for Finite Hopkins Lithography
We study an explicitly declared finite partially coherent Hopkins imaging model and develop a proof-carrying framework for topology changes under focus and threshold variation. Three phase diagrams are separated: bifurcations of the spatial critical set, changes in adjacent critical-value ownership, and topology changes of a fixed target contour. The finite Hopkins intensity is a Laurent trigonometric polynomial with exact focus periodicity and reflection symmetry. After sine--cosine polynomialization, the critical and event relations are semialgebraic and therefore admit finite point/arc stratifications over one focus period. At each fixed focus the critical-value set is finite, so strict adjacent lower and upper owners are attained whenever the corresponding side is nonempty. On event-free Morse cells the owning values continue analytically; load-bearing ownership singularities include terminal-fold cliffs, transverse branch-crossing kinks, and reflection-protected pitchforks. Fixed-target contour topology is instead controlled by the target discriminant $J = \\tau$, $\\nabla_x J = 0$. An explicit level-set transport field proves ambient-isotopy rigidity on every target-event-free focus interval. Newton-polytope and multihomogeneous bounds make the isolated candidate sets explicitly finite, while positive-dimensional event components are handled by semialgebraic event cells. For a frozen 37-source $\\text{ArF}$ fixture, under the declared computer-assisted arithmetic contract, we certify a sharp model-relative focus--dose chamber on $|z| \\le 10\\text{ nm}$, several distinct ownership singularities, transverse target-threshold events, and a target-contour component sequence $1 \\to 3 \\to 5 \\to 4$. All statements concern the declared finite aerial model and are not wafer-process qualification claims.
Authors
- Tao Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1291-515X)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-09-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22843141
- Primary Topic
- Advancements in Photolithography Techniques
- Type
- preprint