Improve Your Competitiveness with Faster Time-to-Mask

In Depth:Fast Technology Development

Fast Technology Development

Mentor Graphics works with you to develop a customized tapeout-to-mask flow for your most advanced technology in the shortest time possible. We supply three crucial ingredients to ensure your success:

• A comprehensive set of tools for every aspect of the tapeout-to-mask flow.
• Common control languages and flexible interfaces to enable fast and efficient flow integration.
• Consulting services to adapt our technology to your specific needs in the shortest time possible, and to continue flow optimization as your process reaches maturity.

This combination of comprehensive tool functionality, flexibility, and Mentor flow engineering support provides you with the fastest and most efficient tapeout-to-mask flow development available.

In Depth:Accurate Resolution Enhancement

Accurate Resolution Enhancement

Mentor’s advanced mask optimization tools answer the challenge of low k1 photolithography with key computational lithography innovations, including:

• Calibre OPC – Optical proximity correction for process window, double dipole lithography, and multi patterning
• Rule-based and model-based SRAF solutions that span all technology needs
• Calibre RET modeling to maximize lithographic resolution through process window models, etch models, 3D mask models, implant topography models, and resist toploss models

Calibre resolution enhancement technology ensures image fidelity across multiple process conditions for a more robust and reliable manufacturing process.

Our lithographic models are proven in the world’s largest IC manufacturing facilities worldwide. Technology for the latest nodes is already in development, and will be production-proven when your commercial manufacturing ramps up.

In Depth:Managing mask cost and cycle time

Managing mask cost and cycle time

Manage your mask costs with Mask Process Correction (MPC) and Mask Data Preparation (MDP) technology, designed specifically for e-beam mask writers, which includes:

• Correction and modeling capabilities to improve mask CD linearity and uniformity for advanced nodes, especially for smaller feature sizes (such as SRAFs).
• A combination of density-based bias models and variable etch bias (VEB) models based on physical mask measurements handles long, medium and short range effects.
• Tools for MPC model building and customization integrated with Calibre Workbench™.
• Mask fracturing and mask writer data conversion.

To speed up the post-tapeout flow even as the complexity of OPC grows, Mentor’s computational lithography software offers these key techniques:

The Calibre computational lithography solution takes a multi-prong approach to improving OPC/RET turnaround times (Click to view larger)

• Enabling high utilization of CPU resources on large MTFlex cluster runs with Calibre ClusterManager.
• Providing system level diagnostics for monitoring, control and analysis with Calibre LogView
• Ensuring optimal performance on the latest, and future, hardware platforms.
• Offering flexible hybrid hierarchical and FLAT operations and flows for efficient data processing.
• Reducing the OPC runtime on a single CPU through improvements to all the core Calibre algorithms.