Scaling variance, invariance and prediction of design rule: from 0.25-μm to 0.10-μm nodes in the era of foundry manufacturing

Abstract

The design rules are categorized into two parts: the primitive and the affiliate ones, to excogitate the variance and invariance among the different technology nodes. The scaling trend was characterized and the process control capabilities of design rules were reviewed. Based on the data of in-line methodology and process physical specification, a novel algorithm is enacted to generate the design rule of next generation. The design rule is disassembled into two parts: one is the criteria of electrical specification, and the others are the variations induced by the process sequences. The variations are modeled as the statistical distributions of in-line datum set. Monte Carlo simulation is used to extract the variations of multiple variable process parameters. Then, the design rules can be derived from the criteria of electrical specification, and the summation of the variations of multiple variable process parameters.