Objective

Performkeydesignformanufacturingstepsrequiredafterthesignal routingiscomplete:

*Antennafixing *Metalfilling *Metalslotting *Addingredundantcontacts *Wirespreading

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DesignstatusatstartofDFMphase
Placement

Standardcellsareplaced ClocktreeandHFNbuffersareplaced Allclock,signalandP/Gnetshavebeencompletelyrouted Allrouterelatedoptimizationsarecompleted: SetupandHoldtime:met Maximumcapacitancelimitsmet Maximumsignaltransitiontimesmet DesignisDRCclean

CTS

Routing

Designfor manufacturability

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Manufacturingissues
Astrocanaddressseveralissuestoincreasemanufacturingyield: GateOxideintegrityantennafixing Viaresistanceandreliabilityextracontacts RandomParticledefectWirespreading Metalerosionmetalslotting Metalliftoffmetalslotting MetalOverEtchingmetalfill

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GateOxideIntegrity
Metalwires(antennae)placedinanEMfieldgeneratevoltagegradients. Duringthemetaleachstage,strongEMfieldsareusedtostimulatetheplasmaetchant. ResultantvoltagegradientsatMOSFETgatescandamagethethinoxide.

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AntennaRules
Aslengthofwireincreasesduringprocessing,thevoltagestressingthegateoxide increases. Antennarulesdefineacceptablelengthofwires.

*AntennaRatios:
metal2 AreaofmetalconnectedtoGate CombinedAreaofGate metal1

poly

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MetalSplittingOrlayerJumping
BeforeLayerJumping

metal3 M1 blockage

M3blockage

metal1 Unacceptableantennaarea

Gate poly

Driver diffusion

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MetalSplittingOrlayerJumping
AfterLayerJumping,tomeetAntennarules

metal3 M1 blockage

M3blockage

metal3

metal1 Acceptableantennaarea

Gate poly

Driver diffusion

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InsertingDiodes
BeforeInsertingDiodes metal3

metal1 DiodeInhibitslargevoltageswings onmetaltracks metal3

metal1 Duringetchphase,thediodeclamps thevoltageswings.

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Antennaviolationsfixingflow
Routing&related Routing&related Routing&related Routing&related Routing&related optimizations optimizations optimizations optimizations optimizations

RouteDRC violations?
No Setantennarules Search&Repair InsertAntennaDiodes forallremaining violations RemainingDesignfor
RVVLSICONFIDENTIAL Manufacturability

Yes

Search&Repair

Viaresistanceandreliability

Replacingoneviawithmultipleviascanimproveyield&timing(seriesRreduction) Astroinsertsmultipleviaswithoutrerouting

extra vias added

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RandomParticleDefects
Randommissingorextramaterialcausesopensorshortsduringthefabricationprocess.

*Wiresatminimumspacingaremostsusceptibletoshorts *Minimumwidthwiresaremostsusceptibletoopens Conductivedefectswithincritical areacausingshorts Nonconductivedefectswithin criticalareacausingopens

Critical Areas metal3

Conductivedefectsoutsidecritical areacausingnoshorts

Nonconductivedefectsoutside criticalareacausingnoopens
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WireSpreading+Widening
Spreadwirestoreduceshortcriticalarea

pushroutesofftrackbyhalfpitch willnotpushfrozennets Widenswirestoreduceopencriticalarea WireTracks

SpreadingoffTrack

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Widening

MetalErosion
Thewaferismadeflat(planarized)byaprocesscalledChemicalMechanicalPolishing (CMP) Metalsaremechanicallysofterthandielectrics:

*CMPleavesmetaltopswithaconcaveshapedishing *thewiderthemetalthemorepronouncedthedishing *Widetraceswithlittleinterveningdielectricandcanbecomequitethin dishing thissevereiscallederosion. Processrulesspecifymaximummetaldensityperlayertominimizeerosion.

Trytogetpicforthis

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MetalLittoff
Conductorsanddielectricshavedifferentcoefficientsofthermalexpansion:

Stressbuiltsupwithtemperaturecycling Metalscandelaminate(litoff)withtime Widemetaltracesaremorevulnerablethannarrowones Maximummetaldensityrulesalsoaddressthisissue.

MetalThermalExpansion

Dielectric
DielectricThermalExpansion
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MetalSlotting
Slottingwidewiresreducesthemetaldensity Slotsminimizesstressesbuildup,reducinglitofftendency PrimarilyusedonPowerandGroundtraces: Slottingparameterscanbesetlayerbylayer Slideclearance

Canapplytoanyothernetifwideenough OpenSlot SlideSpace

Width

EndSpace
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Lenght

MetalOverEtching
Anarrowmetalwireseparatedfromothermetalrecievesahigherdensityofetchantthan Thenarrowmetalcangetoveretched Minimummetaldensityrulesareusedtocontrolthis.

closelyspacedwires

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Metalfill
Fillsemptytrackswithmetalshapestomeettheminimummetaldensityrules Usesupmostoftheremainingroutingresource: Nofurtherroutingorantennafixescanbedone

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