Tag Archives: letter-wafer-tech

Picosun Oy, a supplier of advanced industrial ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) technology, now provides its customers production-scale aluminum nitride batch process with superior film thickness uniformity and fast speed.

Aluminum nitride (AlN) is one of the key materials in semiconductor industries. Compatibility with III-V semiconductors makes it an excellent material for power electronics, and in mobile communications technology it is used in the production of several key components such as RF filters and microphones.

“We have achieved excellent results in our new AlN batch process, so we are very happy now to offer it to our industry customers for mass manufacturing applications. AlN is a very sought-after material amongst our microelectronics production customers,” says Dr. Erik Østreng, Applications and Services Director of Picosun.

High quality, but low cost microelectronics mass production is a prerequisite also for the rapidly expanding Internet-of-Things (IoT). Soon, the IoT will require trillions of sensors, actuators, transducers, energy harvesters and other, often independently operating electronic components. AlN thin films are important building blocks also in these devices.

In all semiconductor applications, the quality of the thin films, especially their uniformity and purity, is crucial. For the end product prices to stay competitive, the films must be manufactured fast and cost-efficiently in large batches.

“We at Picosun want to offer our customers comprehensive, turn-key ALD manufacturing solutions and the best and most agile customer care. A process, tailored, optimized and ramped-up for each customer’s individual needs is the core part of this solution”, continues Mr. Juhana Kostamo, Managing Director of Picosun.

Picosun’s production ALD systems are designed to fulfill the most stringent quality and reliability requirements of today’s semiconductor industry. With Picosun’s SEMI S2 compliant batch ALD tools equipped with fully automatic substrate handling in constant vacuum excellent AlN film thickness uniformities and conformality across the batch have been achieved.

Researchers at the Nanoscale Transport Physics Laboratory from the School of Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand have found a technique to improve carbon superlattices for quantum electronic device applications. Superlattices are made up of alternating layers of very thin semiconductors, just a few nanometers thick. These layers are so thin that the physics of these devices is governed by quantum mechanics, where electrons behave like waves. In a paradigm shift from conventional electronic devices, exploiting the quantum properties of superlattices holds the promise of developing new technologies.

A schematic atomic diagram of a quantum well made from amorphous carbon layers. The blue atoms represent amorphous carbon with a high percentage of diamond-like carbon. The maroon atoms represent amorphous carbon which is graphite-like. The diamond-like regions have a high potential (diamond is insulating) while the graphite-like regions are more metallic. This creates a quantum well as electrons are confined within the graphite-like region due to the relatively high potential in the diamond-like regions. Superlattices are made up of a series of quantum wells. Credit: Wits University

A schematic atomic diagram of a quantum well made from amorphous carbon layers. The blue atoms represent amorphous carbon with a high percentage of diamond-like carbon. The maroon atoms represent amorphous carbon which is graphite-like. The diamond-like regions have a high potential (diamond is insulating) while the graphite-like regions are more metallic. This creates a quantum well as electrons are confined within the graphite-like region due to the relatively high potential in the diamond-like regions. Superlattices are made up of a series of quantum wells. Credit: Wits University

The group, headed by Professor Somnath Bhattacharyya has been working for the past 10 years on developing carbon-based nano-electronic devices.

“Carbon is the future in the electronics field and it soon will be challenging many other semiconductors, including silicon,” says Bhattacharyya.

The physics of carbon superlattices is more complex than that of crystalline superlattices (such as gallium arsenide), since the material is amorphous and carbon atoms tend to form chains and networks. The Wits group, in association with researchers at the University of Surrey in the UK, has developed a detailed theoretical approach to understand the experimental data obtained from carbon devices. The paper has been published in Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group) on 19 October.

“This work provides an understanding of the fundamental quantum properties of carbon superlattices, which we can now use to design quantum devices for specific applications,” says lead author, Wits PhD student, Ross McIntosh. “Our work provides strong impetus for future studies of the high-frequency electronic and optoelectronic properties of carbon superlattices”.

Through their work, the group reported one of the first theoretical models that can explain the fundamental electronic transport properties in disordered carbon superlattices.

Bhattacharyya started looking at the use of carbon for semiconductor applications almost 10 years ago, before he joined Wits University, when he and co-authors from the University of Surrey developed and demonstrated negative differential resistance and excellent high-frequency properties of a quantum device made up of amorphous carbon layers. This work was published in Nature Materials in 2006.

McIntosh undertook the opportunity at honours level to measure the electrical properties of carbon superlattice devices. Now, as a PhD student and having worked extensively with theoretician Dr. Mikhail V. Katkov, he has extended the theoretical framework and developed a technique to calculate the transport properties of these devices.

Bhattacharyya believes this work will have immense importance in developing Carbon-based high-frequency devices.

“It will open not only fundamental studies in Carbon materials, but it will also have industrial applications in the electronic and optoelectronic device sector,” he says.

Superlattices are currently used as state of the art high frequency oscillators and amplifiers and are beginning to find use in optoelectronics as detectors and emitters in the terahertz regime. While the high frequency electrical and optoelectronic properties of conventional semiconductors are limited by the dopants used to modify their electronic properties, the properties of superlattices can be tuned over a much wider range to create devices which operate in regimes where conventional devices cannot.

Superlattice electronic devices can operate at higher frequencies and optoelectronic devices can operate at lower frequencies than their conventional counterparts. The lack of terahertz emitters and detectors has resulted in a gap in that region of the electromagnetic spectrum (known as the “terahertz gap”), which is a significant limitation, as many biological molecules are active in this regime. This also limits terahertz radio astronomy.

Amorphous Carbon devices are extremely strong, can operate at high voltages and can be developed in most laboratories in the world, without sophisticated nano-fabrication facilities. New Carbon-based devices could find application in biology, space technology, science infrastructure such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope in South Africa, and new microwave detectors.

“What was lacking earlier was an understanding of device modelling. If we have a model, we can improve the device quality, and that is what we now have,” says Bhattacharyya.

Tektronix, Inc., a worldwide provider of measurement solutions, today introduced the Keithley S540 Power Semiconductor Test System, a fully-automated, 48 pin parametric test system for wafer-level testing of power semiconductor devices and structures up to 3kV. Optimized for use with the latest compound power semiconductor materials including silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), the fully integrated S540 can perform all high voltage, low voltage, and capacitance tests in a single probe touch-down.

Keithley S540_Power Semiconductor Test System

As demand for power semiconductor devices continues to increase and as SiC and GaN are becoming more commercialized, manufacturers are adopting wafer-level testing in their production processes to optimize yields and improve profitability. For these applications, the S540 lowers cost of ownership by minimizing test time, test set-up time, and floor space while achieving lab-grade high voltage measurement performance.

“Many fabs are using custom-built, hybrid test systems for power semiconductor testing that require manually changing test setups when moving from low voltage to high voltage tests. As you might expect, this adds process steps and slows production,” said Mike Flaherty, general manager, Keithley product line at Tektronix. “In contrast, the S540 is a complete, fully integrated solution well suited for production environments where numerous devices must be tested quickly.”

To deliver production-level performance, the S540 can perform parametric measurements on up to 48 pins without changing cables or probe card infrastructure. It can also perform transistor capacitance measurements such as Ciss, Coss, and Crss up to 3kV, again without manual reconfiguration of test pins. Further boosting test output, the S540 offers sub-pA measurement performance and can perform fully automated, high voltage leakage current tests in <1 sec.

As a standard commercial product, the S540 offers fully traceable system specifications, safety compliance, diagnostics, and worldwide service and support, features that are often missing in home-built or custom systems. The S540 draws on Keithley’s 30+ years of semiconductor parametric testing expertise and safely and seamlessly integrates industry-leading semiconductor test instrumentation with both low- and high-voltage switching matrices

Researchers from MIPT’s Laboratory of 2D Materials’ Optoelectronics, Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, and Tohoku University (Japan) have theoretically demonstrated the possibility of creating compact sources of coherent plasmons, which are the basic building blocks for future optoelectronic circuits. The way in which the device would operate is based on the unique properties of van der Waals heterostructures — composites of graphene and related layered materials. A paper detailing the study has been published in the Physical Review B journal.

The plasmon is a quasi-particle that is a “mixture” of oscillating electrons and the electromagnetic field coupled with them. Plasmons can be used to generate, transmit, and receive signals in integrated circuits. Plasmons can act as mediators between electrons and light waves in highly efficient photodetectors and sources, particularly in the actively explored terahertz range. It is interesting to note that plasmon energy can be stored at a length scale much smaller than the wavelength of light. This means that plasmonic devices can be far more compact than their photonic counterparts. The most “compressed” plasmons are those that are bound to the conducting planes, and these plasmons can be used to make the most compact optoelectronic devices.

But where can one find a conducting plane that supports ultra-confined plasmons? For more than forty years, such objects have been created by sequential growth on nanometer-thin semiconductors with affine crystal structures. In this process, certain layers are enriched with electrons and obtain good electrical conductivity. These “layer-cakes” are called heterostructures — Russian physicist Zhores Alferov was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for their development.

However, growing nanoscale layers is not the only way of obtaining flat semiconductors. During the last decade, researchers’ attention has been focused on a different, intrinsically two-dimensional material — graphene. Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon, and it can be obtained by simply slicing a graphite crystal. The study of the unique electronic properties of graphene (which are radically different from those of classical heterostructures) was marked by another Nobel prize awarded to the MIPT alumni Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (2010). A great number of graphene-based devices have already been created, including transistors receiving high-frequency signals, ultrafast photodetectors and even the first prototypes of lasers. The properties of graphene can be further enhanced by placing it on another material with a similar crystal structure. Materials similar to graphene can essentially be used to create the “layer-cake” heterostructures mentioned above. In this case, however, the building blocks of the structures are joined by van der Waals forces, which is why they are called van der Waals heterostructures.

Band diagram of the graphene -- tungsten disulphide -- graphene structure explaining the principle of plasmon generation. The application of interlayer voltage V results in the enrichment of one layer by electrons (blue), and the emergence of free states (called holes) in the opposite layer (red). An electron can tunnel from an occupied state to an empty state (dashed line), and its excess energy can be spent to excite a plasmon (red wavy line). CREDIT © MIPT

Band diagram of the graphene — tungsten disulphide — graphene structure explaining the principle of plasmon generation. The application of interlayer voltage V results in the enrichment of one layer by electrons (blue), and the emergence of free states (called holes) in the opposite layer (red). An electron can tunnel from an occupied state to an empty state (dashed line), and its excess energy can be spent to excite a plasmon (red wavy line). CREDIT © MIPT

In their work, the researchers show that a heterostructure comprising two graphene layers separated by a thin layer of tungsten disulphide not only supports the compact two-dimensional plasmons, but can also generate them upon the application of interlayer voltage.

“The structure we are modeling is essentially the gain medium for plasmons,” explains Dmitry Svintsov, the first author of the research. “More common examples of gain media are the neon-helium mixture in a gas laser, or a semiconductor diode in a laser pointer. When passing through such a medium, the light is amplified, and if the medium is placed between two mirrors, the medium will generate the light by itself. The combination ‘gain medium plus mirrors’ is at the heart of any laser, while the gain medium for plasmons is a necessary element of a plasmonic laser, or spaser. If the gain medium is switched on and off, the plasmonic pulses can be obtained on demand, which could be used for signal transmission in integrated circuits. The plasmons generated in the gain medium can also be uncoupled from the graphene layers and propagate as photons in free space. This allows one to create tunable sources of terahertz and far infrared radiation.”

<> Band diagram of the graphene — tungsten disulphide — graphene structure explaining the principle of plasmon generation. The application of interlayer voltage V results in the enrichment of one layer by electrons (blue), and the emergence of free states (called holes) in the opposite layer (red). An electron can tunnel from an occupied state to an empty state (dashed line), and its excess energy can be spent to excite a plasmon (red wavy line).

Apparently, the gain medium is not a perpetuum mobile, and the particles created by it — either photons or plasmons–must get their energy from a certain source. In neon-helium lasers, this energy is taken from an electron thrown onto a high atomic orbital by the electric discharge. In semiconductor lasers, the photon takes its energy from collapsing positive and negative charge carriers — electrons and holes, which are supplied by the current source. In the proposed double graphene layer structure, the plasmon takes its energy from an electron hopping from a layer with high potential energy to a layer with low potential energy, as shown in the figure. The creation of a plasmon as a result of this jump is similar to the way in which waves form as a diver enters the water.

To be more precise, the electron transition from one layer to another is more like soaking through the barrier rather than jumping over it. This phenomenon is called tunneling, and typically the probability of tunneling is very low already for nanometer-thin barriers. One exception is the case of resonant tunneling, when each electron from one layer has a “well-prepared” place in the opposite layer.

“The principle of plasmon generation studied by our group is similar to the principle of the quantum cascade laser proposed by the Russian scientists Kazarinov and Suris and realized in the USA (Faist and Capasso) more than twenty years afterwards. In this laser, the photons take energy from electrons tunneling between gallium arsenide layers through the AlGaAs barriers. Our calculations show that in this principal scheme, one can profitably replace gallium arsenide with graphene, while tungsten disulphide can act as a barrier material. This structure is able to generate not only photons, but also their compressed counterparts–plasmons. The generation and amplification of plasmons was previously thought to be a very challenging problem, but the structure we have proposed brings us one step closer to the solution,” says Dmitry Svintsov.

A research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has developed a revolutionary, light-activated semiconductor nanocomposite material that can be used in a variety of applications, including microscopic actuators and grippers for surgical robots, light-powered micro-mirrors for optical telecommunications systems, and more efficient solar cells and photodetectors.

“This is a new area of science,” said Balaji Panchapakesan, associate professor of mechanical engineering at WPI and lead author of a paper about the new material published in Scientific Reports, an open access journal from the publishers of Nature. “Very few materials are able to convert photons directly into mechanical motion. In this paper, we present the first semiconductor nanocomposite material known to do so. It is a fascinating material that is also distinguished by its high strength and its enhanced optical absorption when placed under mechanical stress.

“Tiny grippers and actuators made with this material could be used on Mars rovers to capture fine dust particles.” Panchapakesan noted. “They could travel through the bloodstream on tiny robots to capture cancer cells or take minute tissue samples. The material could be used to make micro-actuators for rotating mirrors in optical telecommunications systems; they would operate strictly with light, and would require no other power source.”

Like other semiconductor materials, molybdenum disulfide, the material described in the Scientific Reports paper (“Chromatic Mechanical Response in 2-D Layered Transition Metal Dichalcogenide (TMDs)-based Nanocomposites”), is characterized by the way electrons are arranged and move about within its atoms. In particular, electrons in semiconductors are able to move from a group of outer orbitals called the valence band to another group of orbitals known as the conduction band only when adequately excited by an energy source, like an electromagnetic field or the photons in a beam of light. Crossing the “band gap,” the electrons create a flow of electricity, which is the principal that makes computer chips and solar cells possible.

When the negatively-charged electrons move between orbitals, they leave behind positively charged voids known as holes. A pair of a bound electron and an electron hole is called an exciton.

In their experiments, Panchapakesan and his team, which included graduate students Vahid Rahneshin and Farhad Khosravi, as well as colleagues at the University of Louisville and the University of Warsaw Pasteura, observed that the atomic orbitals of the molybdenum and sulfur atoms in molybdenum disulfide are arranged in a unique way that permits excitons within the conduction band to interact with what are known as the p-orbitals of the sulfur atoms. This “exciton resonance” contributes to the strong sigma bonds that give the two dimensional array of atoms in molybdenum sulfide its extraordinary strength. The strength of this resonance is also responsible for a unique effect that can generate heat within the material. It is the heat that gives rise to the material’s chromatic (light-induced) mechanical response.

To take advantage of the later phenomenon, Panchapakesan’s team created thin films made up of just one to three layers of molybdenum disulfide encased in layers of a rubber-like polymer. They exposed these nanocomposites to various wavelengths of light and found that the heat generated as a result of the exciton resonance caused the polymer to expand and contract, depending on the wavelength of the light used. In previous work, Panchapakesan’s team harnessed this photo-mechanical response by fabricating tiny grippers that open and close in response to light pulses. The grippers can capture plastic beads the size of a single human cell.

In further testing, Panchapakesan and his team discovered another unique behavior of the molybdenum disulfide composite that opens the door to a different set of applications. Employing what is known as strain engineering, they stretched the material and discovered that mechanical stresses increased its ability to absorb light.

“This is something that cannot be done with conventional thin-film semiconductors,” Panchapakesan said, “because when you stretch them, they will prematurely break. But with its unique material strength, molybdenum disulfide can be stretched. And its increased optical absorption under strain makes it a good candidate for more efficient solar cells, photodetectors, and detectors for thermal and infrared cameras.

“The exciton resonance, photomechanical response, and increased optical absorption under strain make this an extraordinary material and an intriguing subject for further investigation,” he added.

As a provider of process solutions for a broad range of applications, Oxford Instruments announced the development and launch of the SiC via plasma etch process using its high performance PlasmaPro100Polaris etch system. SiC is becoming an increasingly important material, particularly in the arena of high performance GaN RF devices using SiC as a substrate. A smooth via etch through the SiC is essential to enable these devices, and Oxford Instruments has developed the ideal solution for etching high quality SiC vias efficiently. Combined with a low damage GaN etch within the same hardware, the PlasmaPro100 Polaris offers a unique capability for GaN based RF device plasma etch processing requirements.

The technology developed offers several process capabilities suited to the SiC via application:

  • High SiC etch rate enabling maximum throughput
  • Smooth sidewalls for problem free post etch metallisation
  • High selectivity to underlying GaN layer giving a smooth, low damage stop onto the GaN device layers
  • Clamping of sapphire carriers using Oxford Instruments’ unique patented Electrostatic Clamp technology ensuring excellent sample temperature control and maximum yield
  • Capability of etching SiC and GaN in the same tool through advanced plasma source technology
  • High utilisation provided by long Mean Time Between Cleans (MTBC)

Dr Mark Dineen, Optoelectronics Product Manager at Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology says, “Our Applications specialists have spent significant time developing this SiC via etch process on the PlasmaPro100 Polaris etch system, enabling high selectivity and throughput amongst other benefits. These benefits will enable our customers to etch both SiC and GaN in the same tool through advanced plasma source technology.”

Oxford Instruments delivers plasma processing systems, and offers a library of over 6,000 process recipes, all backed by a global support and service network.

SEM showing smooth via etch through SiC

SEM showing smooth via etch through SiC

MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation (“MagnaChip”) (NYSE:  MX), a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products, announced today the availability of a new 0.13 micron Slim Flash process technology, based on 0.13 micron EEPROM.  While maintaining the same performance characteristics of the existing EEPROM process, Slim Flash process technology is highly cost competitive because it reduces the number of layers to be embedded by 20 percent and cuts the manufacturing turnaround time by 15 percent.

The embedded NVM (Non-Volatile Memory) EEPROM process, integrates logic, analog, and memory into one chip, and has been adopted in a wide range of applications such as automotive, MCU, touch IC and Auto Focus IC.

Qualification test for 0.13 micron Slim Flash process technology was completed in both device performance and yield categories.  All devices passed the WLR (Wafer Level Reliability) test, SRAM, and reliability test of standard cell library.  In particular, high density EEPROM IP satisfied all categories related to endurance and data retention test.

In addition to the existing 0.13 micron EEPROM, MagnaChip plans to build a Slim Flash portfolio by merging Slim Flash into various technologies, including BCD and High Voltage.  MagnaChip is currently engaging with customers using the new technology, with several products currently in development. Volume production of the Slim Flash process technology is expected to begin as early as the fourth quarter of 2016.

“With the introduction of our 0.13 micron Slim Flash process technology, customers now have access to a cost-saving and time-saving manufacturing process that will improve their overall time to market,” said YJ Kim, Chief Executive Officer of MagnaChip.

Leti, an institute of CEA Tech, announced today it has joined the Stanford SystemX Alliance, a network of 100 renowned Stanford University professors and 27 world-class companies, joining forces in a pre-competitive environment to define tomorrow’s research strategies. Leti’s participation bridges the gap between two worlds – academia and industry. 

The alliance is a collaboration between Stanford researchers and over two-dozen leading global technology companies – such as Google, Huawei, Xilinx, Intel, Qualcomm, Toshiba, Infineon, and many more – that focuses on hardware and software at all levels of the system stack. Topics range from materials and devices to systems and applications in electronics, networks, energy, mobility, bio-interfaces, sensors and other technological domains.

Together, the SystemX partners are working on research strategies that should lead to a wide range of next generation applications, including the highly anticipated self-driving car and future artificial-intelligence systems that will improve performance and operation of our mobile, medical, smart-home solutions and devices.

Following his recent visit to Leti, Stanford System X Director Rick Bahr said, “Leti’s extensive, advanced clean room facilities and expertise are truly impressive, and I can see now that Stanford and Leti are very complementary. It makes real sense for us to find more ways to work together on developing new technologies and their demonstrators.”

“The alliance provides an avenue for worldwide strategic discussions and, more importantly, allows both research partners and industry leaders to stay ahead of the game,” said Barbara De Salvo, Leti’s scientific director.

“Leti brings its scientific excellence and expertise on technology transfer, and will have access to Stanford’s top-notch upstream research and network,” she added. “Stanford’s dynamic culture will inspire Leti on the road to new scientific territories and lead to strong programs with the Silicon Valley ecosystem.”

Leti will share its innovative research results during several SystemX events and explore ambitious, innovative and collaborative projects together with other partners of the Alliance.

Gigaphoton Inc., a manufacturer of light sources used in lithography, has announced that its helium-free technology has made it possible to achieve a 10,000 kiloliter annual reduction of helium gas consumed by high-output ArF immersion excimer lasers (hereinafter, “ArF lasers”).

In line with its EcoPhoton program, Gigaphoton has continued to initiate “Green Innovation” activities since 2013, which are designed to reduce environmental impact for customers. Through such efforts, the company has built up an extensive record of achievements and experience, which it draws on to realize cost reductions for its customers. In July of this year, Gigaphoton also announced a new roadmap for green innovation. Among its multiple efforts, the company’s “helium-free” technology not only provides a solution to concerns over helium gas supply, but also makes a massive contribution to semiconductor and other industries.

Helium gas is used as a purging gas in ArF lasers, and this technology replaces helium gas with nitrogen gas, making it the world’s first technology to reduce helium consumption by 99%. A notable characteristic of this technology is that, even though helium is replaced with nitrogen, it still achieves higher reliability without sacrificing any optical properties. Even major manufacturers with mass production lines consisting of over 90% lasers who have adopted this technology have found that they are able to continue stable operations with no negative impact on the exposure process. The average amount of helium gas currently consumed per ArF laser is about 80 kiloliters per year. Due to this technology being applied to the majority of lasers in the market, a total of 10,000 kiloliters of helium gas consumption has been reduced on a global basis per year.

Hitoshi Tomaru, President & CEO of Gigaphoton says, “There is a dire need for helium not just in the semiconductor industry, but as an essential element in other fields as well, such as for MRIs in the medical field and for maglev trains. Another major concern has been demand which continues to grow in emerging economies while supply capacity remains essentially flat. Adoption of this helium-free technology will allow helium to be better supplied to sectors that need it most. Gigaphoton is committed to continuing to be the kind of company that can drive such contributions to industry.”

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:  SNPS) today announced a collaboration with TSMC to complete the certification for its 16-nanometer (nm) FinFET Compact (16FFC) process for a suite of Synopsys’ digital, custom and signoff tools from the Galaxy Design Platform. A key result of the certification is that Synopsys’ Custom Compiler solution is supported with TSMC’s 16FFC Process Design Kits (PDKs) through the iPDK standard. With multiple production designs for TSMC’s 16FFC process already underway, the tool certifications enable mutual customers to lower costs and increase reliability with TSMC’s FinFET technology.

The rapid adoption of FinFET technology and increasing functionality for automotive design applications is resulting in higher current densities and, therefore, more wires susceptible to electromigration (EM) effects, such as voids and short circuits. Additionally, the thermal profile of FinFET technology affects the temperature of surrounding metal interconnects, known as self-heating effect (SHE), which affects the possibility of EM failures over time. To address these challenges, TSMC enhances circuit simulation models that assess the impact of SHE on device reliability mechanisms, such as hot-carrier injection (HCI) and bias-temperature instability (BTI). Synopsys supports the new models with the latest versions of its popular HSPICE®, CustomSim™ and FineSim® circuit simulators. The enhanced reliability simulation solution enables designers to model circuit performance degradation over time – a key step toward improving long-term automotive design reliability.

To support TSMC’s 16FFC process, a suite of Synopsys’ digital, custom and signoff tools from the Galaxy platform are validated to handle enhanced design rules and reliability requirements for targeted applications, such as mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) and automotive. The certified tools deliver routing rules, physical verification runsets, signoff-accurate extraction technology files, statistical timing analysis that correlates with SPICE and interoperable process design kits (iPDKs) for the 16FFC process.

“The jointly developed enhancements for automotive design reliability and tool certification for TSMC’s 16FFC process are another significant milestone of the long-term collaboration between Synopsys and TSMC,” said Bijan Kiani, vice president of product marketing of the Design Group at Synopsys. “The latest enhancements and certification for custom, digital and signoff flows are enabling our mutual customers to deliver lower cost and higher reliability for their innovative designs in many application areas such as automotive, IoT and mobile.”

“Through our multi-year collaboration with Synopsys, we are now jointly delivering significant enhancements to improve design reliability for key applications including automotive ADAS and infotainment,” said Suk Lee, senior director of TSMC’s Design Infrastructure Marketing Division. “In addition, tool certification for TSMC’s 16FFC process signals to our mutual designer community that the Galaxy Design Platform tools are ready to be used with our 16FFC process for the development of their next-generation projects.”

Key Synopsys tools certified by TSMC for their 16FFC process include:

  • IC Compiler IITM place and route solution
  • IC Validator signoff physical verification
  • StarRC™ extraction tool
  • PrimeTime® timing signoff solution
  • Custom Compiler custom design solution
  • PrimeRail and CustomSim reliability analysis
  • NanoTime custom timing analysis
  • HSPICE, CustomSim and FineSim simulation