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What is process window?

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Puneet GuptaAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGDA Newsletter, Volume 40, Issue 8

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https://doi.org/10.1145/1866975.1866976

Published: 01 August 2010 Publication History

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Abstract

Process window is a collection of values of process parameters that allow circuit to be manufactured and to operate under desired specifications. For instance, lithographic process window is typically defined as the set of {focus, exposure} points to control critical dimension (CD) variation to within 10%. One simple way visualizing it is using a Focus-Exposure Matrix (FEM) curve which plots exposure vs. defocus for a given linewidth tolerance. Maximal inscribed rectangle in this plot then represents the process window [1]. Of course, metrics can go beyond linewidth (e.g., sidewall angle) as can process variables (e.g., overlay, temperature). Furthermore, the overall process window for a design will be intersection or overlap of process windows for all different layout patterns existing in the design (e.g., isolated vs. dense lines) [2].

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}}P. Gupta, A. B. Kahng and C.-H. Park, "Detailed Placement for Enhanced Control of Resist and Etch CDs", IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design 26(12) 2007, pp. 2144--2157.

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}}T.-B. Chan, A. A. Kagalwalla, and P. Gupta, "Measurement and Optimization of Electrical Process Window," in Proc. SPIE, February 2010.

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}}T.-B. Chan, R. S. Ghaida, and P. Gupta, "Electrical Modeling of Lithographic Imperfections," in Proc. IEEE/ACM VLSI Design Conference, 2010.

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}}Mohamed Al-Imam, Andres Torres, Jean-Marie Brunet, Moutaz Fakhry, and Rami Fathy, "Optimization of process window simulations for litho-friendly design framework", Proc. SPIE 6349, 2006.

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What is process window?

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Published In

ACM SIGDA Newsletter Volume 40, Issue 8

August 2010

2 pages

ISSN:0163-5743

DOI:10.1145/1866975

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 01 August 2010

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Liu GTai WLin YJiang IShiely JCheng PMitra TYoung EXiong J(2022)Sub-Resolution Assist Feature Generation with Reinforcement Learning and Transfer LearningProceedings of the 41st IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design10.1145/3508352.3549388(1-9)Online publication date: 30-Oct-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3508352.3549388
Yang HLi SChen WPathak PGennari FLai YYu B(2022)DeePattern: Layout Pattern Generation With Transforming Convolutional Auto-EncoderIEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing10.1109/TSM.2021.313935435:1(67-77)Online publication date: Feb-2022
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Yang HPathak PGennari FLai YYu B(2019)DeePatternProceedings of the 56th Annual Design Automation Conference 201910.1145/3316781.3317795(1-6)Online publication date: 2-Jun-2019
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Xu XLin YLi MMatsunawa TNojima SKodama CKotani TPan D(2018)Subresolution Assist Feature Generation With Supervised Data LearningIEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems10.1109/TCAD.2017.274802937:6(1225-1236)Online publication date: Jun-2018
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Zhang DDong HAtkinson H(2015)What is the Process Window for Semi-solid Processing?Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A10.1007/s11661-015-3185-947:1(1-5)Online publication date: 5-Nov-2015
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