SIGMA-C and Fraunhofer IISB Announce Breakthrough in Photomask and Wafer Topography Simulation.MUNICH, Germany & ERLANGEN, Germany -- Fraunhofer IISB IISB Indian Institute of Science Bangalore and SIGMA-C GmbH today announced the incorporation of smart decomposition simulation capabilities into SIGMA-C's production-proven SOLID suite of products. This new capability, available in SOLID-C or as part of a maintenance contract for existing SOLID-C users, enables advances in topography simulation, which is an important advantage in developing and implementing sub-wavelength lithography imaging approaches to meet the resolution challenges of Moore's law "The number of transistors and resistors on a chip doubles every 18 months." By Intel co-founder Gordon Moore regarding the pace of semiconductor technology. He made this famous comment in 1965 when there were approximately 60 devices on a chip. . The SOLID-C V6.5 suite offers accelerated mask topography simulation, as well as a new, efficient approach to improving simulation speed more than 10X over wafer topography. Memory requirements are also substantially reduced for SOLID-C, which is available in Windows, LINUX and UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). versions. This increased performance supports the simulation over larger areas of interest. The performance improvements are based on a new algorithm, a combination of Real Exposure over Non-topography and Flood Exposure over Topography (RENFT), a smart decomposition of the full simulation developed by Dr. Andreas Erdmann and his lithography simulation group at the Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB in Erlangen, Germany. The integration of the new algorithm into the SOLID-C software package enables the efficient simulation of many critical wafer topography scenarios, such as resist footing effects in the vicinity of poly-Si lines on patterned wafers. The SOLID-C suite of topographical, or 3D, photomask An opaque image on a translucent plate that is used as a light filter to transfer an image from one device to another. See chip. simulation has more than three years of production acceptance at IDMs worldwide. With its ability to simulate topography over large area masks and patterned semiconductor wafers, SOLID-C marked SIGMA-C's technological leadership in 3D simulation. "This latest technology breakthrough enables SIGMA-C to continue to provide the most comprehensive lithography suite of simulation products available, as lithographers strive to enable Moore's Law with xRET sub-wavelength imaging approaches required with immersion lithography Immersion lithography is a photolithography resolution enhancement technique that replaces the usual air gap between the final lens and the wafer surface with a liquid medium that has a refractive index greater than one. and new polarization schemes for the 65nm and 45nm nodes," said Bob Naber, SIGMA-C's director of technical marketing. "Simulation benefits include verification of lithography strategies prior to the availability of hardware, which speeds time to market. Offline optimization with a virtual process improves tool utilization and improves time-to-yield and profit. By providing a virtual process environment, SOLID delivers a cross functional communication venue from design to mask making to wafer fabrication Wafer Fabrication is a procedure composed of many repeated sequential processes to produce complete electrical or photonic circuits. Examples include production of radio frequency (RF) amplifiers, LEDs, optical computer components, and CPUs for computers. environments. This cross functional communication venue ensures specific and accurate specification definition to enable design-for-manufacturability strategies." "This communication platform also speeds resolution of process excursions, improving tool utilization, yield, and profit," Naber said. "SIGMA-C is proud to offer this improved capability as part of our modestly priced maintenance contracts providing outstanding value for our customers." SIGMA-C will showcase SOLID-C v6.5 and the new RENFT capability at SPIE's 24th Annual BACUS Symposium on Photomask Technology, Sept. 14-15, at booth #218 at the Monterey Convention Center, Monterey, Calif., and at a hosted reception at the Portola Plaza, Suite #217 in the J,K buildings, Wednesday, Sept. 15th from 6-10 p.m. About Fraunhofer IISB The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the leading organization of applied research in Europe. Together with industrial partners and other research institutes, the Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB is developing new equipment and processes for use in semiconductor manufacture and simulation tools to characterize the process steps involved in modern microelectronics manufacture. In the Technology Simulation department advanced models and powerful simulation programs are developed in order to optimize individual processes and process sequences in semiconductor production. The Lithography group under the guidance of Dr. Andreas Erdmann develops models, algorithms and software for the simulation of lithographic lith·o·graph n. A print produced by lithography. tr.v. lith·o·graphed, lith·o·graph·ing, lith·o·graphs To produce by lithography. processing. This includes methods for rigorous simulation of light scattering from small features on photomasks and wafers, scalar scalar, quantity or number possessing only sign and magnitude, e.g., the real numbers (see number), in contrast to vectors and tensors; scalars obey the rules of elementary algebra. Many physical quantities have scalar values, e.g. and vector imaging algorithms, and photoresist A film used in photolithography that temporarily holds the pattern of a circuit path or microscopic element of a chip. When exposed to light, it hardens and is resistant to the acid bath that washes away the unexposed areas. Not to be confused with photoresistor. models. Results of these research and development activities have been commercialized since several years in cooperation with the software house Sigma-C. IISB maintains a Web site at www.iisb.fraunhofer.de. About SIGMA-C SIGMA-C is a leading provider of applied simulation software Simulation software is based on the process of imitating a real phenomenon with a set of mathematical formulas. It is, essentially, a program that allows the user to observe an operation through simulation without actually running the program. that models semiconductor fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´sh  n),n the construction or making of a restoration. from design to manufacture. SIGMA-C's product portfolio includes engineering tools, such as optical lithography simulation software, as well as production tools for full-chip data preparation, e-beam lithography, optical proximity correction Optical proximity correction (OPC) is a photolithography enhancement technique commonly used to compensate for image errors due to diffraction or process effects. The two most common applications for OPC are linewidth differences between features in regions of different density (e. and data analysis. The company's advanced simulation software allows users to optimize processes prior to actual production. This can significantly improve product yields, cycle times and equipment utilization rates. All leading-edge semiconductor manufacturers use SIGMA-C's tools. Founded in 1987, SIGMA-C is headquartered in Munich, Germany, with a U.S. subsidiary in Santa Clara Santa Clara, city, Cuba Santa Clara (sän`tä klä`rä), city (1994 est. pop. 217,000), capital of Villa Clara prov., central Cuba. , Calif. The company maintains a Web site at www.sigma-c.com. |
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