Technology computer-aided design frameworks and the PROSE implementation

As process technologies for integrated-circuit (IC) design and manufacturing become more complex, technology computer-aided design (TCAD) tools become increasingly valuable for analyzing, understanding, and predicting technology issues through simulation. The new challenge is to harness the synergistic interactions of these specialized tools within an integrated system. Exploratory systems and collaborative prototypes are being developed worldwide.;This dissertation examines the diverse framework issues facing process technology CAD and proposes solutions in domain interfaces, semiconductor wafer representation, process management, and graphical user interfaces through an experimental system named PROSE (PROcess Simulation Environment). This multi-functional working implementation has an open-architecture that enables easy tool integration, and brings together IC design, technology, and manufacturing CAD. A graphical user interface with wafer and mask editing, and interactive process simulation capabilities is developed. A Binary Profile Interchange Format (BPIF) toolkit is created, providing a common tool interface to topography and impurity wafer data. A new process simulation manager features: an interpreted command language, named Pcl, that can specify process and simulation parameters, query wafer data, and invoke simulators; and a shell with graphical and textual interfaces for entering and executing process flows.;The key strengths of PROSE are proven in application studies. The author is Chair of the Semiconductor Wafer Representation (SWR) committee, which has made swift progress on defining wafer standards. As a consequence, BPIF objects and functions are upgraded to C++, making BPIF++ suitable for exploring SWR server concepts. TCAD interaction with IC design is demonstrated by linking SIMPL into the OCT/VEM/RPC framework and creating a phase-shifting mask application toolkit. Local SPLAT imaging mask analysis is combined with new global IC CAD design tools for phase-assignment and phase/shape design rule checking. A 16Mb DRAM technology shrunken for 64Mb using alternating phase-shifting shows that 84% of cell geometries are easily resized. The potential of Pcl for controlling TCAD and linking to manufacturing CAD is demonstrated using SIMPL. The adoption of Pcl and BPIF++ is recommended for future SIMPL versions. PROSE's distinct ability to span IC design and technology domains encourages further investigation.