Three DFM “Litho” Checkpoints at SMIC

By Mentor, a Siemens Business - 03 Apr, 2012 - Comments: 0

Design for manufacturing (DFM) has been an industry buzz word for several years, but now that it is an expected part of every design flow at 40nm and below, we are seeing how the concept of DFM can be successfully deployed. For example, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), one of the world’s largest semiconductor foundries, has established a process for litho checking... » read more

Fill Challenge Solved: Why SmartFill is as Good as it Sounds

By Jean-Marie Brunet - 12 Jan, 2012 - Comments: 0

by Jean-Marie Brunet Among the many steps involved with chip design, there is one known by the deceptively simple name of “fill.” Fill involves adding shapes or polygons to the design that are structural, not logical. That is, they ensure manufacturability by making sure each layer (metal, poly, diffusion) has a proscribed density. As easy as this sounds, fill can be tricky, and the fill... » read more

To Cut or Not To Cut? That is the Double Patterning Question

By David Abercrombie - 14 Dec, 2011 - Comments: 1

By David Abercrombie The challenges of double pattering (DP)-based design are looming large to those customers starting to move to the 20 nm technology node. Of course, much of the fear and trepidation is simply due to it being something new to learn, and the sense of risk that a move into the unknown can instill. Regardless of emotions involved, DP does place new restrictions on physical la... » read more

Experts At The Table: Improving Yield

By Ed Sperling - 21 Nov, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Ed Sperling Semiconductor Manufacturing & Design sat down to discuss yield issues with Sesh Ramaswami, senior director of strategy at Applied Materials; Luigi Capodieci, R&D fellow at GlobalFoundries; Kimon Michaels, vice president and DFM director at PDF Solutions; Mike Smayling, senior vice president at Tela Innovations; and Mark Mason, director of data integration at Texas Instr... » read more

Experts At The Table: Improving Yield

By Ed Sperling - 07 Nov, 2011 - Comments: 0

DFM is a Competitive Weapon

By Mentor Graphics Staff Writers - 01 Nov, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Joe Davis, Mentor Graphics As my mom always told me, you always have a choice. The trick was, you had to be willing to accept the consequences of your decision. Don’t want to clean your room? Okay, but you can’t go out to play until you do. Easy enough to do the analysis on that one when you’re ten years old. But sometimes, understanding the consequences gets a little tougher, an... » read more

The Genealogy of DFM

By David Abercrombie - 07 Oct, 2011 - Comments: 0

By David Abercrombie Family histories are all the rage these days. With the advent of online databases, what was once a difficult and expensive task is now accessible to anyone with Internet access. Not only can you investigate census data, immigration records, and military service records with ease, but some sites also allow you to access information compiled by other site members. All of a... » read more

DFM: Out of the Spotlight and Into the Trenches

By David Abercrombie - 03 Feb, 2011 - Comments: 0

By Joe Davis and David Abercrombie The year is 2006. Everywhere you look, the phrase “Design for Manufacturing” or its acronym, DFM, is being brandished as if it were the banner of some brave new army of chip designers. “DFM is the solution to discontinuity issues at 65 nm.” “Traditional boundaries between design and manufacturing will vanish.” Articles and papers discussing DFM ... » read more

Race Intensifies To Develop EUV Source

By Ed Sperling - 02 Dec, 2010 - Comments: 0

By David Lammers The technology competition to supply the source of EUV radiation for the next-generation lithography tools has long been divided between the laser-produced plasma (LPP) approach, favored by Cymer (San Diego) and Gigaphoton (Oyama, Japan), and the discharge -produced plasma (DPP) method supported by Xtreme Technologies (Aachen, Germany). The competition is heating up, and it... » read more

Pricey Processes For Low Power

By Ed Sperling - 08 Apr, 2010 - Comments: 0

By Pallab Chatterjee Recently Samsung gave an update on the status and availability of its advanced 32/28nm process technology for use in foundry. The process is targeted for shipping designs to customers at the end of this year, with a road map that continues through the 22/20nm nodes and down to 15nm. What was particularly interesting were several key innovations that have made this all p... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
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3.5D: The Great Compromise

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by Laura Peters

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Memory Fundamentals For Engineers

eBook: Nearly everything you need to know about memory, including detailed explanations of the different types of memory; how and where these are used today; what's changing, which memories are successful and which ones might be in the future; and the limitations of each memory type.

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tag: DFM

Three DFM “Litho” Checkpoints at SMIC

Fill Challenge Solved: Why SmartFill is as Good as it Sounds

To Cut or Not To Cut? That is the Double Patterning Question

Experts At The Table: Improving Yield

Experts At The Table: Improving Yield

DFM is a Competitive Weapon

The Genealogy of DFM

DFM: Out of the Spotlight and Into the Trenches

Race Intensifies To Develop EUV Source

Pricey Processes For Low Power