Waiving Benign Geometries in Design Rule Checking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current design rule checking systems struggle to optimize the waiver of violated design rules while ensuring manufacturable and compliant semiconductor chip designs, as design rules have become increasingly complex, leading to inefficiencies in identifying benign geometries that marginally violate rules.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that process design rules to extract descriptors that can be perturbed, allowing for the creation of a second design rule that is satisfied by patterns violating the original rule, thereby expanding the allowed design rule space by waiving insignificant geometries, using a design rule waiver system that filters complex rules, perturbs descriptors, and verifies printability through lithographic simulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If design rules are made more complex to ensure manufacturability, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The design rule checking system segments the complex design rule space into multiple subsets, each representing different geometric features or constraint types. This segmentation allows the system to manage complexity by processing rules in organized groups rather than as a monolithic set, while maintaining comprehensive manufacturing precision coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts design rule parameters by identifying benign geometries that marginally violate rules and modifying the applicable parameters for these specific cases. This allows relaxation of constraints where manufacturing precision is not compromised, effectively reducing device complexity while maintaining necessary manufacturing precision through selective parameter modification.
2Manufacturing precision
If design rules are strictly enforced, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by differentiating between critical and non-critical design rule violations. Benign geometries that marginally violate design rules are identified and treated differently from significant violations. This localized approach maintains manufacturing precision for critical features while allowing productivity improvement through waiver of insignificant violations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial enforcement of design rules by applying waivers to specific benign geometries that marginally violate rules. Rather than strictly enforcing all rules universally, the system applies enforcement selectively, maintaining necessary manufacturing precision while improving productivity by eliminating unnecessary constraints on benign features.
3Productivity
If the allowed design rule space is expanded by waiving violations, then productivity is improved, but manufacturing precision may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where design rule violations are analyzed, classified as benign or significant, and appropriate waivers are applied only to benign cases. This feedback loop ensures that productivity improvements through waiver do not compromise manufacturing precision, as the system continuously monitors and adjusts based on the impact of each waiver decision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis and classification of design rule violations before final enforcement decisions are made. By identifying benign geometries in advance and pre-clearing them for waiver, the system enables productivity improvement without compromising manufacturing precision, as the preliminary action ensures only safe waivers are applied.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer program products for design rules checking in which the waiver of design rules is optimized while ensuring compliant designs that are manufacturable. A first design rule and a plurality of patterns of a layout that violate the first design rule are received by a design rule waiver system. The design rule waiver system may process the first design rule to extract a plurality of descriptors that can be perturbed. The design rule waiver system may perturb an attribute associated with at least one of the plurality of descriptors extracted from the first design rule in order to define a second design rule that is satisfied by the plurality of patterns.