ABSTRACT
The design methodology called design for manufacturing (DFM) includes a set of techniques to modify the design of integrated circuits (ICs) in order to make them more manufacturable, i.e., to improve their functional yield, parametric yield, or their reliability. Traditionally, in the pre-nanometer era, DFM consisted of a set of different methodologies trying to enforce some soft design rules regarding the shapes and polygons of the physical layout of an IC product. The chapter focuses on the DFM requirements for technologies in the nanometer range where the spectrum of physical phenomena that may impact manufacturability of products is mind-boggling. It shows that the systematic characterization of these phenomena and their impact on IC yield and performance is of crucial importance for true DFM. Model-based, proactive DFM philosophy consists in the development of accurate, silicon-verified Yield loss mechanism (YLM) models that can evaluate the relative impact of each YLM and assess trade-offs.
