STARC Standardizes on Calibre YieldAnalyzer

STARC Standardizes on Calibre YieldAnalyzer as Reference Tool in DFM Flow for Critical Area Extraction

Mentor Graphics Corporation today announced that STARC (Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center), a research consortium co-founded by eleven major Japanese semiconductor companies, will standardize on Calibre® YieldAnalyzer for critical area analysis in their DFM flow.

STARC has decided to use Calibre YieldAnalyzer's CAA (critical area analysis) tool to develop yield-aware design methodology as a part of its "STARCAD-CEL (One step ahead of DFM)" project by accurately predicting particle yield impact to enable more robust design.

As nanometer technology moves to 90nm and 65nm, manufacturing cost increases dramatically. Cost associated with just a few percent of yield loss cannot be ignored. Yield loss is induced by particles in the manufacturing facility or by process related defects in the wafer that create pattern shorts or opens. More robust pattern design can be achieved with yield prediction prior to manufacturing. This is accomplished by accurately extracting critical area analysis data from the layout and applying an optimized model that considers different yield densities for each process.

"From evaluation results we have found that Calibre YieldAnalyzer delivers highly accurate critical area extraction. We are going to use this tool not only for critical area extraction and yield prediction, but also as a reference tool to enable more effective design enhancement," stated Nobuyuki Nishiguchi, Vice President and General Manager, Development Dept.-1, STARC.

"We are pleased that Calibre YieldAnalyzer achieves STARC's requirements for highly accurate CAA extraction. We look forward to jointly delivering an effective solution to our mutual customers through the adoption of Calibre YieldAnalyzer," said Patrick Williams, corporate vice president, Mentor Graphics Japan - Mentor Graphics.