A Utility-Based Integrated System for Process

To make existing technology CAD simulators available to process and device engineers, integrated technol- ogy systems must provide mechanisms for the rapid inclusion of new simulation tools. An integrated process simulation sys- tem is described which uses functional utilities to integrate dis- parate 2-D simulation tools. The software utilities provide mechanisms for simulator input generation and user interac- tion, for mapping between different cross-section formats, and for output visualization. The specific utilities are described. With this approach, several process simulators for lithography, etching, deposition, and thermal processing have been inte- grated into a unified system, SIMPL-IPX (SIMulation of Pro- files from the Layout-Integrated Process simulation environ- ment with X-Windows). Simulation examples for metal planarization, bipolar technology with a polysilicon collector plug, and advanced lithography are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach to technology CAD tool integra- tion. Finally, methods for improved data management using a CAD framework are described.