1. An optical proximity correction (OPC) method for photolithography applications that is executed on a computer comprising a processor, the OPC method comprising: providing a target layout pattern that represents a corresponding mask pattern for a photolithography mask; operating the processor to fragment at least one feature of the target layout pattern using a fragmentation grid that is independent of the target layout pattern, wherein the fragmentation grid comprises orthogonal gridlines; and operating the processor to generate a fragment data set in response to fragmenting at least one feature of the target layout pattern.