JPH11238655A - Semiconductor process determination support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine an exclusive process capable of providing more efficiently obtaining a required circuit characteristics. SOLUTION: This semiconductor process determination support device is provided with a means for acquiring a data base 8 for storing correlation data between each process parameter of a prescribed circuit, based on the data of a circuit characteristic obtained by adopting a process for distributing each process parameter of a general process to the prescribed circuit and the circuit characteristics, a means 1 for inputting a network list for a circuit to be manufacturing, a means for specifying a required circuit characteristics, a means for selecting at least one process satisfying the specified circuit characteristic from the data base 8, a means for acquiring the data of the circuit characteristic obtained by adopting the network list and the selected process, and a means 6 for displaying the characteristic data of the circuit acquired.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a semiconductor process determination support device for supporting the determination of a semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing process (hereinafter simply referred to as a process).

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Generally,
A general-purpose process is used for manufacturing a semiconductor integrated circuit. However, in the above general-purpose process, for example, ASIC
As in the case of (application specific IC), it may not be possible to obtain a product that satisfies various specifications required by an LSI configured by integrating functions required for a specific application.

As a result of examining the circuit characteristics of a product manufactured by the above-mentioned general-purpose process, if there is a request to increase the speed of the circuit even if the power consumption is slightly sacrificed, redesign the circuit, or Therefore, it is necessary to adjust each parameter of the general-purpose process so that a product satisfying the above requirements can be obtained.

[0004] In the conventional process development, the change of each parameter of the general-purpose process at the discretion of the engineer, the trial production of a product by the modified process, and the check of the circuit characteristics of the prototyped product show the desired circuit characteristics. Repeat until product is obtained. Such a method is costly, time consuming and inefficient.

Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems in the conventional process development and provides a semiconductor process decision support device for more quickly determining a process capable of manufacturing a device having desired circuit characteristics. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

A first semiconductor process decision support device according to the present invention is a support device for determining a process of a semiconductor integrated circuit. In other words, a database of correlation data of each process parameter and circuit characteristics of the circuit obtained based on the data of the circuit characteristics when a process in which the value of each process parameter is variously changed is obtained. Database acquisition means, input means for inputting a netlist of a circuit to be manufactured, designation means for designating desired circuit characteristics,
Among the process parameters of the general-purpose process, in order to achieve the circuit characteristic specified by the specifying unit, at least one process in which the process parameter having the highest correlation with the circuit characteristic is adjusted is obtained by the database obtaining unit. A process simulation and a device simulation are executed by using a process selection means selected from a database and data of a process selected by the process selection means to extract parameters used in a circuit simulation, and the extracted parameters and the input Characteristic data acquisition means for executing circuit simulation based on the netlist of the circuit inputted by the means to acquire data of circuit characteristics, and acquisition by the process and characteristic data acquisition means selected by the process selection means. And display means for displaying the data of the circuit characteristics are.

In a second aspect of the present invention, the process selecting means is a process which satisfies the characteristics specified by the specifying means. It is characterized in that a process consisting of process parameters within the accuracy compensation range of the process simulation executed by the characteristic data acquisition means is selected.

In a third aspect of the present invention, the process selecting means is a process which satisfies the characteristics specified by the specifying means. It is characterized in that a process consisting of process parameters satisfying the above restrictions is selected.

Further, the recording medium of the present invention is a recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as a support device for determining a process of a semiconductor integrated circuit. A database acquisition unit for acquiring a database of correlation data of each process parameter and circuit characteristics of the circuit obtained based on data of circuit characteristics when a process in which the value of each process parameter of a general-purpose process is varied, Input means for inputting a netlist of a circuit to be manufactured, designating means for designating desired circuit characteristics, and among the process parameters of a general-purpose process, among the process parameters specified by the designating means, the circuit characteristics At least one process with the most correlated process parameters adjusted Process selection means for selecting from the database acquired by the database acquisition means,
A process simulation and a device simulation are executed using the data of the process selected by the process selecting means to extract each parameter used in the circuit simulation, and the extracted parameters and a netlist of the circuit input by the input means are extracted. Function data acquiring means for executing a circuit simulation based on the data to acquire circuit characteristic data, and functioning as a display means for displaying the process selected by the process selecting means and the circuit characteristic data acquired by the characteristic data acquiring means The program is characterized by recording a program to be executed.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A semiconductor process decision support device of the present invention assigns the values of the process parameters of a general-purpose process to a certain circuit (hereinafter, referred to as a standard circuit), ie, the values of the process parameters. A database of correlation data between each process parameter and the circuit characteristics of the standard circuit based on the data of the circuit characteristics obtained by adopting the process obtained by changing variously is constructed and stored. Using the database of the correlation data, the process parameters of the general-purpose process are adjusted so that another circuit (hereinafter, referred to as a target circuit) exhibits desired circuit characteristics, and the process after the parameter adjustment is performed. Is displayed on display means such as a display. By referring to the display by the display means, the operator can determine the optimal process for the target circuit at a low cost and at a high speed without performing a trial production. Hereinafter, a semiconductor process determination support device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention having the above features will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(1) System Configuration FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a process decision process executed by the semiconductor process decision support device 100. The data storage unit 7 stores a database of correlation data between each process parameter and circuit characteristics of the circuit based on data of circuit characteristics obtained by adopting a process in which each process parameter of a general-purpose process is assigned to a standard circuit. 8, general-purpose process data 9, information 10 on the range of each process parameter that can accurately execute a process simulation, and possible range of each process parameter that can satisfy manufacturing restrictions. Is stored.

An input unit 1 inputs a circuit net list and desired circuit characteristics. The desired circuit characteristics are specified by designating characteristics to be improved with respect to circuit characteristics obtained when a general-purpose process is used, and characteristics that can be sacrificed for improving the characteristics.

The process condition changing unit 2 specifies a process that satisfies the desired circuit characteristics input from the input unit 1 from the correlation data database 8 stored in the data storage unit 7. When the process is specified, the values of the process parameters are set to the accuracy assurance range 10 of the process simulation and the manufacturing
Choose a process that satisfies The process simulation accuracy guarantee range 10 and the manufacturing restriction condition 11 will be described later.

The process simulation executing section 3 executes a process simulation according to the process specified by the process condition changing section 2 and outputs data of a device structure manufactured by the process.

The device simulation executing section 4 executes a device simulation based on the data of the device structure and outputs predetermined device data.

The circuit simulation execution unit 5 includes a netlist of the target circuit input from the input unit 1 and
A circuit simulation is performed based on the device data output from the device simulation execution unit 4 to output data of circuit characteristics such as power consumption and circuit speed.

The output display unit 6 displays and outputs circuit characteristic data obtained by the circuit simulation in the circuit simulation execution unit 5. The operator determines the optimum process by referring to the display output.

(2) Construction of Database FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the semiconductor process decision support device 100. The semiconductor process determination support device 100 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a CPU) 1
01, a memory 102 used when executing a semiconductor processing determination processing program, a keyboard 103 serving as a key input unit, a display 104, and an external storage device 105.

The external storage device 105 corresponds to the data storage unit 7 shown in FIG. 1. The external storage device 105 is obtained by adopting a process in which each process parameter of a general-purpose process is assigned to a standard circuit. A database of correlation data between each process parameter and the circuit characteristics of the circuit based on the data of the circuit characteristics to be obtained, data of a general-purpose process, data in a range of each process parameter capable of accurately executing a process simulation, and The data in the range of each process parameter that can satisfy the manufacturing restrictions is stored.

Further, in the external storage device 105, there are stored the above-mentioned semiconductor process determination processing program, netlist data of a target circuit for which a process is determined, a process simulation execution program, a device simulation execution program, and a circuit simulation execution program. And an execution program of a parameter extraction process used in the circuit simulation. In the present apparatus 100, for example, SPICE2 developed at the University of California, Berkeley is used as an execution program for circuit simulation. In this case, in order to avoid confusion with the process parameters, the parameters used in the circuit simulation are called spice parameters, and the execution program of the parameter extraction processing is called a spice parameter extraction processing program. In the process determination process described later, a process that can obtain a desired circuit characteristic is selected based on each of the correlation data constituting the database.

FIG. 3 shows a standard circuit netlist,
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow until a circuit characteristic data is uniquely derived based on a general-purpose process adopted in the standard circuit.

First, a process simulation execution program stored in the external storage device 105 is stored in the memory 1.
02, which is read and activated, and process data 1 which is composed of general process flow and parameter data.
10 is read and a process simulation 111 is executed. The device structure data obtained by the process simulation 111 is stored in the external storage device 5.

The device simulation program stored in the external storage device 105 is read out to the memory 102 and started, and the device structure data 112 and the bias condition data 113 stored in advance are read out. The device simulation 114 is executed. By this device simulation 114, a current I-voltage V characteristic, a capacitance C-voltage V characteristic, and the like of a single transistor are obtained as device data 115. The device data 115 is stored in the external storage device 105.

The spice parameter extraction processing software 116 stored in the external storage device 105 is activated, and the parameters used in the circuit simulation (SPICE2) are extracted from the device structure data 112 and the device data 115 stored in the external storage device 105. The parameter data 117 is extracted and stored in the external storage device 105.

The program of the circuit simulation (SPICE2) stored in the external storage device 105 is read into the memory 102 and started, and the spice parameters 117 and the data 118 of the circuit net list stored in advance are read from the external storage device 105. A circuit simulation 119 is executed based on the data. By this circuit simulation 119, data 120 of circuit characteristics such as power consumption and circuit speed when a general-purpose process is used for a standard circuit can be obtained. Circuit characteristic data 1 obtained by circuit simulation 119
20 is stored in the external storage device 105.

According to the above-described procedure, circuit characteristics of a standard circuit when a general-purpose process is employed can be obtained without actually producing a circuit. After the above processing, the values of the parameters of the general-purpose process are assigned, that is, the values of the parameters are variously changed, and the above process simulation, device simulation and circuit simulation are repeatedly executed, and the data of the circuit characteristics are stored in the external storage device 105. By accumulating the data, it is possible to construct a database of correlation data between each parameter of the process and the circuit characteristics, for example, correlation data between the circuit speed and the arsenic implantation amount shown in FIG. The database may be constructed based on data of circuit characteristics obtained from an actual circuit.

(3) Semiconductor Process Determination Support Process FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process determination process executed by the CPU 103 while utilizing the correlation data stored in the external storage device 105. First, the net list of the target circuit is read from the external storage device 105 (step S10).
The circuit simulation is performed using the spice parameters obtained when the general-purpose process is used for the standard circuit and the circuit netlist read out in step S10 to obtain the characteristic data of the target circuit (step S11). The circuit characteristics obtained in step S11 are displayed on the display 104, and a desired circuit characteristic is specified in comparison with the circuit characteristics (step S12). Various methods can be considered for specifying the desired circuit characteristics. For example, the circuit characteristics that can be selected and changed are displayed in a menu on the display 4 and the circuit characteristics to be changed are selected by operating the keyboard 3. There is a way to specify.

From the correlation database, step S1
In step S13, m improvement processes that satisfy the circuit characteristics specified in step 2 are specified. The specific method of specifying the improvement process will be described below. For example, in step S12, when a general-purpose process is employed, instead of allowing an increase in power consumption of up to 10% with respect to the characteristics of the target circuit, a case where an item such as increasing the circuit speed is selected. Consider. In this case, first, a process parameter that affects the circuit speed is selected from the database of the correlation data. A process in which the value of the selected process parameter is changed to a value that increases the circuit speed within a range where the increase in power consumption falls within 10% or less is specified as an improved process that satisfies the specified circuit characteristics. At this time, if there are multiple applicable process parameters,
A plurality of processes in which these parameters are changed are all specified as an improvement process. Note that the number of improvement processes to be specified may be determined in advance, and the improvement process in which the value of a parameter having a high degree of correlation with desired circuit characteristics is changed may be specified preferentially.

In steps S14 to S20 described below, circuit characteristics obtained when the m improvement processes specified in step S13 are applied to a target circuit are examined. First, the value of the variable n is set to 1 (step S14). It is checked whether or not the value of each parameter of the n-th improvement process is within the simulation accuracy guarantee range (step S15). Here, the accuracy guarantee range of the simulation refers to a range in which the reliability of a model such as a diffusion equation used in the process simulation is maintained at a predetermined level or more. If all the parameter values of the n-th improvement process are within the simulation accuracy guarantee range (YE in step S15)
S), the process proceeds to the next step S16. On the other hand, when the value of any parameter of the n-th improvement process is not within the simulation accuracy guarantee range (step S
(NO at 15), the process proceeds to step S23, and the process of obtaining the data of the circuit characteristics is skipped. As described above, if the process parameters are changed within a range in which the accuracy of the process simulation can be compensated, the reliability of the apparatus is increased, and there is no need to perform a prototype for confirmation, and a low-cost and high-speed process can be determined. Can be.

In the next step S16, it is checked whether or not the value of each parameter of the n-th improvement process satisfies manufacturing restrictions. Here, the manufacturing restrictions include, for example, restrictions on the performance of the manufacturing apparatus such as a limit of a minimum line width and a limit of an oxide film thickness, and a change in a process involving a layout change (for example, an increase in poly size). Refers to restrictions. If all parameters of the n-th improvement process satisfy the manufacturing restrictions (YE in step S16)
S), the following steps S17 to S20 are executed. On the other hand, when any parameter of the n-th improvement process does not satisfy the manufacturing restriction (step S16).
NO), the process proceeds to step S23, and the process of obtaining data of circuit characteristics in the middle is skipped. As described above, by changing the process parameters within the restrictions on manufacturing, useless simulation can be prevented, and an optimal process can be efficiently determined.

When the value of each parameter of the n-th improvement process is within the simulation accuracy assurance range and satisfies manufacturing restrictions (the above-described steps S15 and S15).
16, YES), circuit characteristic data when the n-th improvement process is applied to the circuit to be processed is obtained. Here, a process simulation (step S17), a device simulation (step S18), and a circuit simulation (step S19) are executed. Note that the processing contents in steps S17 to S19 are the same as the circuit characteristic acquisition processing already described with reference to FIG. 3, and a repeated description thereof will be omitted.

The circuit characteristic data obtained from the result of the circuit simulation is stored in the external storage device 105 (step S20). Information on the desired circuit characteristics designated in step S12, in this case, data on power consumption and circuit speed is extracted. Here, if the power consumption has increased by more than the desired 10% due to the reason that the target circuit for determining the process is significantly different from the standard circuit used for creating the correlation database, etc. It is determined that the adjustment of the process parameter is necessary (YES in step S21), and the value of the corresponding process parameter is adjusted (step S2).
2) The processes of steps S17 to S20 are performed again.
Note that the adjustment of the value of the process parameter in step S22 is performed, for example, in the direction of reducing power consumption.
Adjust process parameter values. On the other hand, if the increase in power consumption is within 10% or less, it is determined that adjustment of the process parameters is not necessary (step S2).
1 and NO).

If the value of n is not m, that is, if the processing for all the improvement processes specified in step S13 is not completed (NO in step S23), n
After adding 1 to the value of (Step S24), the process returns to Step S15. On the other hand, if the value of n is m (YES in step S23), it is determined that the processing for all the improvement processes specified in step S13 has been completed, and a plurality of execution results are displayed on the display 104 on the circuit speed. The improvement process conditions (data and parameters) are displayed in the order of speed (step S25).

By completing the above processing, at least one or more appropriate improvement processes capable of obtaining desired circuit characteristics specified by the operator and circuit characteristics obtained by the improvement processes are displayed on the display 104. . The operator may determine the most appropriate process based on the information displayed on the display 104. As a result, without actually making a prototype of the circuit,
An optimal process capable of obtaining a circuit characteristic desired by an operator can be derived at low cost and at high speed.

In the semiconductor process determining apparatus 100,
Although SPICE2 is used as a circuit simulation program, the present invention is not limited to this, and similar effects can be obtained by using other circuit simulations.

[0036]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an optimum process desired by an operator is determined by referring to a process displayed by display means and circuit characteristic data. Can be. Thereby, low-cost and high-speed process design can be performed.

In the second semiconductor process decision support device of the present invention, the reliability of the device can be improved and errors can be reduced by setting the compensation range of the simulation accuracy.

In the third semiconductor process decision support device of the present invention, by imposing restrictions on manufacturing, it is possible to prevent unnecessary simulations from being executed and to efficiently decide processes.

The recording medium of the present invention executes a program recorded therein to execute the first computer.
Function as a semiconductor process decision support device. Thus, the operator can determine a desired optimum process by referring to the process displayed by the display unit and the characteristic data of the circuit. Thereby, low-cost and high-speed process design can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a flow of processing executed by a process determination support device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a semiconductor process decision support device.

FIG. 3 is a system flow chart showing a flow up to derivation of correlation data between a process and characteristics of a circuit manufactured by the process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing correlation data between a circuit speed and an arsenic injection amount.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process determination support process.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 CPU, 102 memory, 103 keyboard, 104 display, 105 external storage device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A supporting device for determining a process of a semiconductor integrated circuit, which is based on data of circuit characteristics when a process in which values of respective process parameters of a general-purpose process are assigned to a predetermined circuit is adopted. Acquisition means for acquiring a database of correlation data of each process parameter and circuit characteristics of the circuit obtained by the above, input means for inputting a netlist of a circuit to be manufactured, and designation means for designating desired circuit characteristics In order to achieve the circuit characteristic specified by the specifying means among the process parameters of the general-purpose process, at least one process in which the process parameter having the highest correlation with the circuit characteristic is adjusted is obtained by the database obtaining means. Process selection means for selecting from the database A process simulation and a device simulation are executed using the data of the process selected by the stage to extract each parameter used in the circuit simulation, based on the extracted parameters and the netlist of the circuit input by the input means. A characteristic data acquisition unit that acquires circuit characteristic data by executing a circuit simulation; and a display unit that displays the process selected by the process selection unit and the circuit characteristic data acquired by the characteristic data acquisition unit. A semiconductor process decision support device characterized by the following. 2. The process simulation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said process selecting means is a process that satisfies characteristics specified by said specifying means, and is executed by said characteristic data obtaining means. A semiconductor process decision support device for selecting a process consisting of process parameters within an accuracy compensation range of the semiconductor device. 3. The semiconductor process decision support device according to claim 1, wherein said process selecting means is a process that satisfies the characteristics specified by said specifying means, and is a process parameter that satisfies manufacturing restrictions. A semiconductor process decision support device characterized by selecting a desired process. 4. A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as a support device for determining a process of a semiconductor integrated circuit, the computer comprising: A database acquisition means for acquiring a database of correlation data of each process parameter and circuit characteristics of the circuit obtained based on the data of the circuit characteristics when a process in which parameter values are varied, a netlist of a circuit to be manufactured Input means for inputting the desired circuit characteristics; designating means for designating desired circuit characteristics; and among the process parameters of the general-purpose process, in order to achieve the circuit characteristics designated by the designating means, a process parameter having the highest degree of correlation with the circuit characteristics. Acquire at least one process with adjusted database A process selecting means for selecting from the database obtained by the step, a process simulation and a device simulation are performed by using the data of the process selected by the process selecting means, and each parameter used in the circuit simulation is extracted; A characteristic data acquisition unit that executes circuit simulation based on the parameters and the netlist of the circuit input by the input unit to acquire circuit characteristic data; and a process selected by the process selection unit and a characteristic data acquisition unit. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for functioning as display means for displaying the data of the circuit characteristics is recorded.