LNF L-Edit Manual

University of Michigan
Victoria Hicks, June 2011: email: victorih@umich.edu

Contents
University of Michigan................................................................................................................................. 1 1.0 At a Glance ....................................................................................................................................... 2

General Overview of L-Edit for Mask Making ........................................................................................ 2 Dark Field and Clear Fields: ................................................................................................................. 2 Types of Masks Made at the LNF: ....................................................................................................... 2 Pattern Generated (PG) mask: .............................................................................................................. 3 PG reticle mask: ................................................................................................................................... 3 IR mask, (Image Repeat Mask): ........................................................................................................... 3 2.0 L-Edit: Developing a Layout .................................................................................................................. 3 Getting Started Setting Up the Design and Layers ................................................................................ 3 Design-Technology Parameter Set Up: ................................................................................................ 3 Layers: .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Drawing Basics......................................................................................................................................... 6 Alignment keys ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Navigate:............................................................................................................................................. 10 Return to Alignment Keys: ................................................................................................................. 10 O-Ring Oscillator: .............................................................................................................................. 13 Scribe Lines: ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Assembling the Device: ...................................................................................................................... 14 3.0 FileFracture..................................................................................................................................... 16

GDSII ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 Fracturing ............................................................................................................................................... 18 GDS2PG ................................................................................................................................................. 19 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................................ 22 STANDARD TOOL-BAR ....................................................................................................................... 22 EDITING TOOL-BAR ............................................................................................................................ 22 Hot Keys ................................................................................................................................................. 24 References 26

1.0

At a Glance

L-edit is a layout editor from Tanner Research and is primarily a VLSI (Very-large-scale integration) design tool. Its flexibility allows it to be used for micromachine design, printed circuit board layout and other CAD work. The purpose of this section is to intorduce the uses of L-edit and to explain some of the equipment procedures.

General Overview of L-Edit for Mask Making

L-edit is used to create a layout for the purpose of generating a photo mask. A photo mask is a physical representation of a CAD design made of a transparent glass with a thin layer (typically < 1micron) of metal (typically chrome) on one side that defines a design. The mask is created using a process called photolithography. In this process the mask is covered, on the metal side, with a layer of light-sensitive organic polymer or epoxy called photo resist. UV Light is exposed to the photo resist in the patterned areas causing in a chemical change. This change results in the pattern transfer of the CAD geometry onto the mask. The mask is then developed removing the exposed resist or the unexposed resist depending on the tone of the resist being positive or negative, respectively. The underlying metal, which is now exposed, is then removed via chrome wet etching. The photo resist is removed in its entirety by use of an organic solvent or aqueous solution (depending on the resist type). The final product is a photo mask with the desired design. Dark Field and Clear Fields: There are two types of masks: a dark field mask and a clear field mask. The area not taken up by the desired geometry (the masked area) is called the field. A dark field mask allows light to pass through the desired geometry and the field is opaque due to the presence of chrome thin film. In a clear field mask the light passes through the field and the geometry is opaque, See Figure 1.

L-Edit File Light Rays L-Edit File

Clear Field Mask Dark Field Mask Photo Resist Chrome Quartz or Soda lime (Transparent Glass) Figure 1: The mask making machine uses mechanical apatures to form a series of rectangles - which are flashed onto the underlying photoresist - to approximate the dark geometry in the L-edit file. The purpose of a photomask is to transfer a pattern onto a wafer with only a single exposure. A wafer is a silicon substrate used as the base for building a device. Typically the wafer is first coated with a dielectric or metallic thinfilm and then with a layer of photo resist. The pattern on the mask is tranferred onto the photoresist thinfilm for further processing. Types of Masks Made at the LNF: A device is built one layer at a time and therefore one device may consist of many layers. Each layer requires a mask for tranferring the geometery onto the wafer. Aligning the sucessive 2

layer to a previous layer is very important and there are different processes for acomplishing this task. There are three types of masks made at the LNF (Lurie Nanofabrication Facility): a PG mask, PG reticle mask and a IR mask. The type of mask used is a consequence of the device size and the alignment process. Pattern Generated (PG) mask: The starting phase of any mask making process is a PG mask. A pattern or geometery is transferred to a mask using a lithographic process such as the one mentioned above. If the desired image occupies a large area (> 19.96 x 19.96 mm ) and is not repeated (in an array) then the PG mask will be the final mask. If the image needs to be repeated the PG mask will take on one of the following definitions. PG reticle mask: A reticle is defined as a master mask that contains a patterned image that needs to be stepped or repeated to expose an array of the pattern over the wafer or mask. Reticles have two major applications: 1) printing of an image directly onto a wafer in equipment known as a step-and-repeat aligner (a.k.a. the autostep) and 2) printing of an image onto a mask which, in turn, transfers an image onto a wafer. [2] The LNF uses a stepper that reduces the image by 5X and exposes it directly onto the wafer in a single flash. This process can be repeated to form an array of the images over the surface of the wafer. The image is contained in an area called the die which has a maximum size of 19.96 x 19.96 mm. The geometry of the image is drawn in CAD as the size of the finished product and must be within the maximum die size. The image magnification is addressed during the fracturing process, see section 3. IR mask, (Image Repeat Mask): A mask thats created by using a PG mask to expose a 5X reduced pattern onto another mask via the mask maker in a flood exposure mode. The benefit of this mask type is that you are not limited to a die size and therefore you can processes images that are larger than the maximum die size of the PG reticle mask, (an inherit limitation imposed by the Autosteppers lens configuration which cannot be change).

2.0 L-Edit: Developing a Layout

L-Edit 2D-CAD software, created by Tanner Research, is used by the LNF for creating layout design of micro machines. The software layers 2D images to build 3D devises. The purpose of this section is to introduce you to the basic methodology and drawing functions of L-Edit. This will be done by working through a tutorial, in which we will build a Ring Oscillator, and an alignment key.

Getting Started Setting Up the Design and Layers

An icon for L-Edit, , should be on the desktop or in the start-up menu of a designated PC in the LNF CAD lab. Launch the program; will look similar to Figure 2, pg 4. To start new projects select FILE then new, Table 1, pg 5, item 1. Highlight layout and <empty> then select ok. A blank template will be shown as in Table 1, pg.5, item 2. The next step is to specify the Setup Design-Technology Parameters. Design-Technology Parameter Set Up: From the standard menu bar, select the SETUP pull down menu; then select design. A dialog box will appear called SETUP DESIGN (FILE NAME), Table 1, pg 5, item 3. We will cover the basics of these setting, for more details see page 77 of the L-Edit help menu. The technology name is used to determine whether two design cells are compatible. If you attempt to copy a cell from a file with a technology name different from that of the current cell, L-Edit presents a warning. So give the technology a meaningful name. The display units, specifies the units that L-Edit uses to display distance and area, as well as the units in which physical distances are specified. Changing the display units will not change the scale of your drawing. The technology units are the units of the fabrication process. The database resolution defines the relationship between internal units and the technology (physical) units. Changing the database resolution will change the scale of your drawing. For the purpose of this document we will leave all the settings in this tab as 3

they appear in Table 1, pg 5, item 3; these should be the default settings. The next tab to the left is the grid tab. In this tab, set the major display grid to 2.5 microns and the minor display grid to 0.250 microns. Other tabs: object snap, selection, and drawing, are user preference tabs; a new user can explore these tabs after becoming familiar with the software. Select ok.

Figure 2: Major components of the L-Edit interface [1] Table 1: Screen shots of select L-Edit operation for creating a new project, setting up the design technology and creating new layers.

Item 1: To create a new file highlight Layout, <empty> and select OK.

Item 2: A new file will have a blank layout window and one layer titled, New Layer.

Item 3: The parameters in the Setup Design need to be set for a new file. For the purpose of this document, leave the parameters at their default setting as shown.

Item 4: A user can create and modify the layers of the project in the Setup Layers dialog interface. Every layer that is going to be used on a mask requires a unique GDS11 number.

Layers: Each layer that is intended to be fractured (see pg. 20) is one lithography process; other layers may be used for reference. There are three ways in which you can access the layer setup dialog: double click on a layer in the layer palette with the left mouse button, right click over the layer palette and select setup layers, select SETUP from the menu-bar and then select layers. The SETUP LAYERS dialog will appear and we can create and modify layers through this interface, Table 1, pg 5, item 4. Our example has eight layers. Select the add button seven times, creating seven new layers. Highlight the layer called New Layer and then select the Rename button. You will be asked to give the layer a new name, type cwn and select OK. Repeat this process for the following names: caa, csn, cpg, ccp, cca, cmf, temp. The layers represent: N well, active, N select, poly, poly contact, active contact, metal, and temporary. Each layer that is intended to produce a mask requires a GDS11 layer recognition number. A spot to enter a GDS11 number is on the general tab in the dialog box, under Import/Export. Enter a 1 for cwn, 2 for caa, 3 for csn, 4 for cpg, 5 for ccp, 6 for cca, 7 for cmf, and leave the temp layer without a number. The temp layer is for reference as we draw our project; we do not want the data on this layer to appear on the mask. On the rendering tab you can apply a pattern and color to each layer, it is best to make each layer distinct. For this example let us give each layer the following color and pattern: cwn-slate green with a negative slope dot pattern and solid black outline, caasolid green, csn-black with the positive slope dot pattern and a blue outline, cpg-solid pink, ccp- a custom pattern (select other and create a P in the custom pattern box) and a gray outline, cca-a custom pattern (select other and create an A in the custom pattern box) and green outline, cmf-solid blue, and temp- a custom pattern (select other and create an T in the custom pattern box) color gray, and a black outline, when you have finished select OK. The new layers will appear in the layer palette.

Methodology
L-Edit uses cells to build a design; they are the basic building block of the device. A cell can contain three types of components: primitives (geometrical objects created in the cell), T-cell code and parameters (instruction to generate layout in another cell), and instances (references to other cells). In an efficient design, cells, primitives, and instances form a treelike hierarchical structure, Fig. 3, pg 6. The most elementary cells reside near the bottom; the subsystem cells, composed largely of instances, reside near the top. The efficiency comes from the fracturing process. The software will fracture the primitive file first. If the primitive file is instanced into another cell, the system will use the previous fracture data. It will continue to re-use the primitive data every time the instance occurs. Otherwise, the system would re-fracture the geometry as if it had not fractured it before and this will take longer. An efficient layout is one that utilizes a well organized hierarchical plan. Actions on a particular cell affect all of its instances in cells above it in the hierarchy. [help menu] To view the hierarchical structure in L-Edit, 5

select the design navigator icon and resize the window to your preference. Currently, you will see one cell named Cell0. Our example will have a three tier hierarchy consisting of a bottom tier of primitive cells composed of a device subassembly and alignment marks a middle tier of assemblies, and a top tier that will be an array of devices and the alignment keys. We will begin by creating a cell that illustrates the boundary of a 100 mm wafer. Then we will draw the alignment key for each alignment process. Afterwards, we will draw our device subassembly, create the device and then place an array of devices and the alignment keys in the boundary of the wafer. As we work through the example you may realize that there are simpler ways of creating an image. However, the purpose of this example is to introduce basic drawing tools and give an illustration of how to construct a hierarchical structure. Therefore, some methods are illustrated for the sole purpose of introducing these tools.

Drawing Basics
Circle, Edit Objects, Renaming Cells, Zoom Extents We will begin by creating some reference geometry. Select temp from the layer palette. The title of the layer will become highlighted; this means that you are now working on this layer. Now place your cursor somewhere in the layout window and click the left mouse button. This will activate the window. We will use a wafer of 100 mm (4 inches) in diameter and so we want to contain our array of devices within this boundary. To ensure this, we will make a reference boundary on the temp layer. Select the circle icon, Appendix A (drawing toolbar), and with the left mouse button select a point somewhere in the open cell. Hold the button down and drag the pointer to some arbitrary point, then let go. You should be left with a circle that is selected. To change the size and location of the circle select the edit selected objects icon; it looks like a pair of spectacles, see Appendix A. The EDIT OBJECTS dialog box will appear and we can edit the location and dimension of objects through this interface, Table 2, pg 7, item 1. Type in 50,000 for the radius and 0 for both the x and y center coordinates. Select OK. Now press the Home key on the keyboard; this will resize the drawing to fit within the cell window. You should see a circle with a small cross at the center. !!Dont forget to save your work!! The cell you are working in is called Cell0 but we should change the name to something more meaningful. There are two ways to change the name of a cell: you can right click on the name and select the rename option, or you can select the cell in the design navigator and press shift+R. Rename the cell TOP; this will be the top tier of our hierarchical structure. Now we can begin to draw our alignment key.

Figure 3: The methodology of an L-Edit design uses primitive and instance objects which are assembled through a hierarchical structure. This reduces the time required to fracture geometry into binary code. 6

Table 2: Use the EDIT OBJECTS Dialog to change the location and dimensions of objects. New cells are created through a CREATE NEW CELL dialog.

Item 1: The EDIT OBJECT(S) dialog interface is a place to edit objects. All the objects that can be changed through this dialog are listed as a tab. The system will refer you to a tab based on what is selected in the cell.

Item 2: To create a new cell, select the new cell icon at the top of the Design Navigator. Fill in the dialog box with meaningful information and select OK. A blank layout window, which is the new cell, will open.

Alignment keys New Cell, Box, Status Bar, Nibble, Grid, Locator Menu Bar Alignment keys are used to align a mask to a wafer for the intention of exposing the wafer for additional processing. The alignment key in this example is used for the purpose of aligning a two layer process, Figure 4. Therefore, every two layers will need a separate alignment key and window. To create a cell for the alignment key, you can either right click in the DESIGN NAVIGATOR or select the new cell icon at the top of the Design Navigator. The CREATE NEW CELL dialog interface will appear, Table 2, pg 7, item 2. Name the cell, AlignmentKey_1_2, then fill in the Author, Organization and general information about the cell; select OK. A new layout window will open; this is the alignment-key cell. It is in this cell that we will create the alignment key.

Figure 4: Alignment marks are used to align a new layer of processing. The vernier scales have a resolution of 0.5 m. To find the error of alignment, find the two bars that line up perfectly, count how many bars from the center to the perfectly aligned bar and multiply this by 0.5 m. This is your registration error. 7

Select the cwn layer then place your cursor over the icon of the box in the drawing tool bar, Appendix A. Notice that when you place your cursor over the icon, text will appear in the lower left hand of the screen; this is the status bar. This bar gives you information about the operation you are going to perform or the process you are performing. Select the icon and watch the status bar as you move your pointer into the blank layout window, hold down the left mouse button, drag the pointer to an arbitrary location and let go. What you saw in the status bar was a description of the performing operation, the active layer, and dimensional properties of the object being drawn. Also, the status bar will give this information when you have an object selected. It can be a useful drawing tool. To continue, we are going to change the shape and location of the rectangle through the edit object(s) option. We want to draw the 222 vernier that is in the left hand side of Figure 4, pg 8. Select the arrow icon on the drawings tool bar. Then select the rectangle by clicking and on it. Next, select the edit objects icon in the EDIT tool bar and use the dimension on the drawing to make the boundary of the vernier. Set the show coordinates to center and dimension, the x and y center to 0, the width to 222 and height to 40, Table 3, pg 9, item 1. After selecting OK, press the Home key on the keyboard. Now we have the general outline of the vernier scale but to get our desired geometry we need to add and remove some material. There are two dimensions that roughly describe the size of the white rectangles in our vernier: 30 and 18.5. Draw another rectangle and edit the object so that the show box coordinates are set to bottom left corner and dimension, set the x and y to 0, the width to 18.5 and the height to 30. At the top of the dialog box change the layer to, temp and select OK. Now we have our box, but it is not exactly the size we desire. We want to cut off 5 m from the top and side. We will use the nibble function for this. First, make sure that the grid is on. In the MULTI-GRID tool bar, Appendix A, you can change the mouse snap grid by selecting either 1,2,or 3 and changing the value in the designation box. Select the 1 icon, , then put a 1 into the designation cell, . Now your mouse will snap to every 1 micron. If you select the 3, and put 10 in the designation cell, your mouse will snap to every 10 microns. (If you cant see the grid, you need to zoom your view; press the + and sign to zoom in and out, the to scroll left, up, right, and down.) You can also turn the mouse grid snap off by selecting the Max Grid icon. For now, select mouse grid snap 1. Next, select the small rectangle and look to the top center of the computer screen and locate a small toolbar that has two numbers, it should read, 0:30, this is the LOCATOR menu bar and we will use it to measure the amount of material we nibble away. When the read out shows two numbers it is locating the pointer relative to the origin but pressing Q will change the read out relative to the location of the pointer when Q was pressed. Select the top left corner of the rectangle and then Press Q and notice the location of the pointer changed from 0:30 to 0:0:0. Now select the nibble icon in the EDITING toolbar. Place your cursor, which now looks like two xs and a pair of scissors, ove r the top left corner of the small rectangle. With the pointer at 0:0:0 select the corner with the left mouse key and drag it to the right side of the rectangle. Notice that the read out in the LOCATOR menu changes. The first two numbers are the distances in the x and y axis relative to the Q point. The third number is the shortest distance between the pointer and the Q point. Move the cursor until the read out is, 19:-5:20, then let go. The part of the rectangle that you selected is now gone. Remove 5 m from one side of the rectangle using the same procedure. When you have finished, select the rectangle and open the EDIT OBJECTS dialog box and confirm the new size to be 13.5 by 25 and set the bottom left corner to 0,0. Notice that the overall size of the vernier is not 222, it is 227. We need to add 2.5 to each side of the rectangle. Put 0.5 in the mouse snap grid designation cell. Then place your cursor at the bottom left hand corner of the large rectangle and then press Q until the locator reads 0:0:0. Make sure you are on layer cwn and select the box icon. Select point 0:0:0 and move your pointer to location -2.5: 40 and let go. Select the large rectangle and the sliver

you just made. Then select the merge objects icon, Now add 2.5 to the other end.

, in the editing toolbar. The two rectangles are now one.

Lets direct our attention back to the small rectangle on the temp layer. We want to move it 108.5 m to the left and 20 microns down. We are going to do this using the nudge command. Follow closely! In the multi-grid toolbar type in 108.5, then select the save icon, , that is directly left of the designation box. Then type a 1, but do not save; this will return the mouse snap to 1 increment but save the nudge distance of 108.5. Now select the small rectangle and then hold down the ctrl key and select the left arrow. Now change the value in the multi-grid toolbar to 20 and save. Then set it back to 1 without saving. Select the rectangle, press ctrl + . Your image should look like the image in Table 3, pg 9, item 2. Table 3: One may edit objects through the edit objects dialog, nudge command and Boolean operations.

Item 2: Objects can be moved using the nudge.

Item 1: Editing boxes can be done through the edit objects dialog box. You can show the box coordinates by the center and dimensions, the corners, or bottom left corner and dimension. Then you can enter the width, height and x,y location.

Item 3: The move command moves an object by specified increments

Item 4: Objects can be constructed using Boolean functions.

Item 5: The Boolean function can create complicated geometry from simple shapes. We need to repeat this rectangle 11 times for a total of 12 rectangles. Select the small rectangle then the duplicate icon on the edit toolbar, See Appendix A. The duplicate icon creates a duplicate of the object directly on top of the original. It also keeps the new rectangle selected, so that any command we select next will affect the duplicate. So, select the move by icon on the edit tool bar, Table 2, Pg 9, item 3. We want to move the rectangle to the right 9

by 18.5 m, so type in 18.5 0 and select OK. Now simply select the duplicate icon and move the duplicate until you have all 12 required rectangles. If you make a mistake press ctrl + z; this will undo the last command. We need to add two more rectangles that are 111 m wide by 10 m high and place them at the top of our large rectangle. Using the skills obtained thus far create one of the new rectangles on the temp layer at some arbitrary location in the layout window. One way to relocate the new rectangle is to move the origin of the file and then edit the new rectangle relative to the new origin. Make sure the object snap is on and the mouse snap grid is off. The object snap looks like a magnet. It will snap the cursor to points on objects depending on the selected icons in the object snap toolbar. Therefore, confirm that the magnet icon and the vertex icons are selected ( , ). Press the number 0 on the keyboard and then with the cursor select the upper left corner of the largest rectangle. A small cross will appear on the corner; this is the origin. Use the edit objects dialog to move the new rectangle to a new location such that the top left hand corner of both rectangles match. You can select to edit using the bottom left corner and dimensions and set the x dimension to 0 and the y to -10; select OK. The rectangle will move to the new location. Duplicate the rectangle and move the duplicate to the right by 116 microns. You should have an image that looks like the one in Table 3, pg 10, item 4. You can see from the image that the vernier looks like a trench running through the rectangles we just created. Therefore, we want to remove the area the rectangles occupy. We will do this using a Boolean function. There are eight Boolean functions and you may read more about them on page 200 of the L-Edit help menu. Select the entire image and then the Boolean icon in the edit toolbar. In the dialog box set the results to cwn, the operation to Xor and select the box to delete inputs after operation is done. Then select OK, what is left is the vernier. !! Make sure you save your work!! Navigate: Before we move on, I want to show you how to navigate the layout. The Home key will resize the entire layout to fit in the window view. This key is a zoom operator and there are more. If you select the + and - the image will zoom in and out by a factor of 2. Go ahead and select each of these keys as I explain them. Alt + Z will zoom in and out by a specific amount. The W key will change the magnification so only the select object will be in view. Also, you can hold down the ctrl key and use the scroll button on your mouse. All of these are ways to change the magnification of the layout window. To pan, select the left, right, up or down arrow keys on the keyboard. Select Y to center the window over selected objects. Use alt+F to move to the right / left or up / down by a specified amount. Selecting J will pan to the left side of a selected object and K pans to the right side. To use the mouse, press Z; the left button will become a zoom box, the middle a pan function and the right is zoom out. Also, when you hold down the shift key you can use the mouse wheel to scroll left and right. Hold down the space to use the middle mouse wheel to scroll up and down. More navigation options are discussed on page 122 of the L-Edit help file. Return to Alignment Keys: We will draw the vernier 216 using different techniques. Set the origin somewhere away from the vernier 222. Give yourself enough room to draw vernier 216. Highlight the caa layer in the layer palette. Select the orthogonal polygon in the drawing toolbar. Move the cursor to the origin (look at the numbers in the locator bar, they should read 0:0) and press the left mouse button. Move the cursor to the following coordinates, pressing the right mouse button only once at each coordinate: 5:30, 5:5, 216:5, 216:30, 221:30. Then click the right mouse button. During the operation, you may need to use the right arrow key to pan to the right. With the new object selected, choose the icon in the drawing toolbar called, cut selected objects across horizontal axis. Move the pointer to 5 m above the origin, separating the horizontal rectangle from the vertical rectangles. Now duplicate and repeat the left vertical rectangle 11 times at 18.0 m increments. Now select the middle vertical rectangle and duplicate it, then move it -15 m in the y axis. The image should look like the top 216 vernier in figure 4. To make these individual rectangles one solid, select them all and then the merge selected objects in the edit toolbar. 10

To draw the cross alignment mark, place the origin somewhere in an open area. Stay on the caa layer and draw a 140 x 140 m rectangle that is centered at the origin. Now draw another box that has its bottom left corner at (70,-70) and is 40x40 m. Duplicate and move three more of these boxes so that one small box is in each corner of the larger box. Select all four small boxes, then the Boolean function. Put the results on the temp layer, use the Grow operation, by 15 microns and do not delete the inputs after the operation is done. Now select the same small boxes and the 4 new larger boxes. Then select the Boolean operator, place the results on the temp layer, subtract (B-A), and delete the inputs after operation is done. You should have an image as in Table 3, Pg.10, item 5. If your image is not correct it could be that you needed to substrate (A-B). Basically, you want to subtract the small caa boxes from the larger temp boxes. Now select the whole image and then the Boolean function again. Put the results on the caa layer, subtract the temp layer from the caa layer and delete the inputs after operation is done. The result is the cross alignment key in the right-hand image of Figure 4. To make the second part of the alignment cross we will use the Boolean functions to create the geometry directly on top of the existing mark. Select the small square that is in the top left hand corner. Select the Boolean function, place the results on layer cwn, use the Shrink operations, by 4 microns, and do not delete the input. Do the same thing for the next three squares by increasing the Shrink by one for every box. You should have boxes that are shrunk by, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Create two rectangles (both centered on the origin) on the cwn layers, one at 140 x 22 and the other at 22x140. Join both of the rectangles using the merge selected objects command. Your alignment should look like the one in Table 4, Pg 13, item 1. Now we need to place vernier scales in the proper location and create the viewing window. To move around the vernier scales we will use the aligning and distribution commands, Appendix A. Select the 222 vernier on the cwn layer and also select the large cross. Select the, align both objects by vertical and horizontal centers , . Then select the, align evenly distribute vertically , option on the align toolbar. Select a distance of 90 microns and distribute by Edge to Edge, as shown in Table 4, Item 2. Now select the 216 vernier and align the same way except use a value of 50 microns. Your drawing should look like the image in Table 4, Pg. 13, item 3. Now duplicate the two vernier scales, rotate them and place them in the correct location using the skills you have learned so far (the rotate and mirror options are on the edit toolbar). Note: when you are aligning objects relative to each other, the order of selection is relevant. When you are finished you should have an alignment key that looks like the image in Table 4, Pg. 13, item 4. To finish our alignment key place a viewing window over the 222 vernier scale as shown in figure 4. This window will have the dimensions of 40 by 227 and it will be on the caa layer. The device we are going to draw will have seven layers and we need an alignment mark for each layer pair. Make a copy of the AlignmentKey 1_2. To make a copy of a cell, select the CELL icon on the menu bar then select copy. A dialog box will appear, select the AlignmentKey 1_2 and pick OK. You will be asked to give the copied cell a new name, name the cell AlignmentKey 2_3; the cell will open. In the new cell, hide all the objects on the cwn layer select the box in the layer palette that has the symbol of the sunglasses. Select all the objects on layer caa and put them on layer csn by using the edit object dialog. Now hide the csn layer and unhide the cwn layer. Select all the objects on the cwn layer and put them on the caa layer; unhide all the layers. Essentially we are placing all the objects on layer 1 and 2 to layers 2 and 3, respectively. Repeat this process for layers 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6 and 6 to 7. Now, create a new cell called Alignment Key Complete. In this cell draw a rectangle that is 200 wide by 2131 tall. You can place the bottom left hand corner at the origin. Now duplicate this rectangle 6 times, one for each layer. From the drawing toolbar select the instance and existing cell into the active cell ; this is on the drawing toolbar. A dialog box will appear, Table 4, Pg 13, item 6, which has the file name and will allow you to select a cell to instance. Select the AlignmentKey1_2 and select OK. Select the instance of AlignmentKey 1_2 11

and place it x = -265 y=1931 by using the Edit Objects dialog. Now instance AlignmentKey 2_3 and place it at x = -265 and y= 1567.5. Continue for Alignment keys 3_4, 4_5, 5_6, and 6_7 which will have the same x locations and the following y locations: 1204, 840.5, 477, and 113.5 respectively. When you are done your layout should look like the figure in Table 4, Pg 13, item 5. Table 4: This table shows various drawing stages of the alignment key.

Item 1: Using the boolean function one can create additional features that are placed on different layers.

Item 2: One can move objects relative to other objects by using the comands listed in the align toolbar.

Item 3: Image provided to verify users understanding of alignment toolbar.

Item 4: Shown is a one set alignment key for a two layer process. The viewing window over the 222 vernier is not shown for clarity.

Item 5: Alignment Key Complete Item 6: Use the Select Cell to Instance dialog box to create an instance of one cell into another.

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O-Ring Oscillator: Most of the basic drawing commands have been covered during the creation of the alignment marks. Therefore, to build the o-ring oscillator we will simply follow a pre-determined arrangement of box sizes and locations. Save your work and then close out the AlignmentKey cells. Create a new cell called inv and create the boxes listed in Table 5. Table 5: The dimensions and locations of these boxes will construct the o-ring oscillator instance. Layer Center X () Center Y () Width () Height () cwn 16.8 13.0 8.0 8.4 cwn 20.0 6.8 0.8 0.8 caa 14.4 15.6 1.6 1.6 caa 16.4 12.2 5.6 5.2 caa 16.4 3.0 5.6 4.4 caa 14.4 0.0 1.6 1.6 csn 14.4 15.8 2.4 2.0 csn 16.4 3.2 6.4 4.8 cpg 16.4 11.4 0.8 8.4 cpg 14.8 6.8 4.0 0.8 cpg 16.4 3.2 0.8 6.4 cpg 20.0 6.8 1.6 1.6 ccp 20.0 6.8 0.8 0.8 cca 20.0 6.8 0.8 0.8 cca 14.4 15.6 0.8 0.8 cca 14.4 14.0 0.8 0.8 cca 18.4 10.4 0.8 0.8 cca 18.4 4.4 0.8 0.8 cca 14.4 1.6 0.8 0.8 cca 14.4 0.0 0.8 0.8 cmf 16.8 15.6 8.0 1.6 cmf 14.4 14.0 1.6 1.6 cmf 18.4 10.8 1.6 0.8 cmf 18.4 9.0 1.6 2.8 cmf 19.2 6.8 3.2 1.6 cmf 18.4 4.9 1.6 2.2 cmf 18.4 3.7 1.6 0.2 cmf 14.4 1.6 1.6 1.6 cmf 16.8 0.0 8.0 1.6 When you have finished your layout it should look like the drawing in Table 7, Item 1. Save your work and close out the inv cell. Next, create a new cell called oscil 13; this is where we will create the o-ring oscillator device. First create the boxes that are listed in table 6. When you are finished your oscil 13 cell should look like item 2 of table 7.

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Table 6: The dimensions and locations of these boxes are connection between o-ring oscillator subsets. Layer Center X () Center Y () Width () Height () cpg -1.40 28.40 2.80 0.80 cpg -2.40 18.0 0.80 20.0 cpg -1.4 7.6 2.8 0.8 cpg 0.4 7.6 0.8 0.8 cpg 7.6 7.6 0.8 0.8 cpg 40.75 7.6 1.7 0.8 cpg 41.2 18.0 0.8 20.6 cpg 36.8 28.4 9.6 0.8 cmf -2.3 35.2 5 1.6 cmf -4.0 18.0 1.6 32.8 cmf -2.3 0.8 5.0 1.6 cmf -0.8 18.0 1.6 1.6 We want to repeat the inv cell many times so we are going to use the inv cell as an instance. From the drawing toolbar select the instance and existing cell into the active cell ; this is on the DRAWING toolbar. A dialog box will appear, Table 4, pg 13k, item 6, which has the file name and will allow you to select a cell to instance. (For future reference: you can have two files open and select a cell from a different file. The instance will be an external reference to the active file.) Highlight the inv cell and select OK, Table 7, pg 16, item 4. Now select the instance that you just inserted and edit its properties. From the EDIT OBJECT(S) dialog box select the following: rotate 180, translate x = 20.80 and y = 35.20, Scale factor of 1, array parameters x = 4 and y = 1, delta x = -8 and y = 0, see Table 7, pg 16, item 5. Now repeat the process of inserting the instance but use the following parameters: rotate 0, translate x = -12.8 and y = 0.8, Scale factor of 1, array parameters x = 5 and y = 1, delta x = 8 and y = 0, see Table 7, pg 13, item 6. After this is done your image should look like the one in Table 7, pg 13, item 7. Scribe Lines: One wafer can contain an array of many devices. When the wafer is complete you will want to dice the wafer in order to separate the mechanisms. Placing scribe lines on your die will help you locate the proper location to dice. We will place a scribe 10m wide line offset from the edge of the device by 25 microns and it will then extend an additional 25 microns. Create four rectangles on the cmf layer with the following dimensions and locations: make two rectangles 10 m wide by 146.4 m tall with center locations at x= -34.8 y=17 and x=71.60 y=17, and two that are 146.4 m wide by 10 m tall with center locations at x=18.4 y=66 and x=18.4 y= -30, Table 7, pg 16, item 8. Assembling the Device: The array of our completed devices and our alignment marks are placed on the Top cell. Our device is 46.4 x 36.0 m and the scribe lines extend 50 m beyond. Therefore we will have a 146.4 x 136.0 m die. Suppose we want 100,000 devices. We can construct an array of 500 by 200 devices. Open the Top cell and instance in the oscil 13. Select the instance and edit the properties to the following: Set the rotation to 0, the translation to x = -36585 and y = 0, the array parameters to x=500 and y = 210 and the delta to x=146.40 and y = 136.00. Now that our devices are in order we need to add the alignment marks. Instance in the Alignment Key Complete and place the instance at x = -36209.8 and y = -2281 and create an array of them with x=3 and a delta of 36285.0. Now hide the temp layer and your layout will look like the figure in Table 7, pg 17, Item 9. The next step is to fracture your file and create an e-mask. Directions for this procedure are discussed in sections 3.

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Table 7: This table shows various stages of drawing the O-Ring Oscillator.

Item 1: Image of o-ring instance

Item 2: Image of cell oscil 13

Item 3: Use the Select Cell to Instance dialog box to create an instance of one cell into another.

Item 4:

Item 5:

Item 6:

Item 7:

Item 8: One Die

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3.0

FileFracture

In order for the mask maker to process your image, your image must be translated into a language that the mask maker can understand. This process involves creating a GDSII file and then converting this file into an e-mask (.em) file. Details and definitions of these processes are discussed in this section.

GDSII
A GDSII (Graphic Database System) is a database file format (.gds), commonly used by industry, for data exchange of integrated circuit layout. It is a binary file format representing planar geometric shapes (polygons), text labels, and other information about the layout in hierarchical form [3]. Hierarchical form refers to the nesting sequence of instances in your cells. It is important that you understand the hierarchical form because the main cell will need to be specified when creating your .gds file. This will be discussed later in more detail. CAD tools IC station and L-Edit both have GDS internal conversion options; AutoCAD does not. However, Link-CAD (unsupported by the MNF) can convert AutoCAD format to GDSII. This document will only cover the conversion of L-Edit files. For files that are written in AutoCAD it is recommended that a .dxf file be imported into L-Edit and then follow the directions as prescribed for a L-Edit file. Table 1: When an image is drawn in AutoCAD, the recommendation is to import a .dxf file into L-Edit. It is important to make sure that the units of the AutoCAD file are 1:1 and that ALL geometry is represented with a poly-line. Step 1: Confirm that your AutoCAD file is drawn in a 1:1 scale. Scaling your file for means of processing through a piece of equipment is done during the fracturing process. Confirm that all geometry is represented with a poly-line and that all poly-lines are closed and or joined. For further help with poly-lines, access the help menu in AutoCAD; search for poly-line.

Drawn 1:1? YES! 100 microns

All closed poly-lines? YES!

Step 2: Save your AutoCAD file in a .dxf format; then close your AutoCAD file.

AutoCAD 2007 DXF(*.dxf)

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Step 3: Import your .dxf into L-Edit and follow the screen prompts.

File

Import Mask Data

DXF..

Step 4: Check all your dimensions for correctness. If the dimensions of your file are different than you had expected, return to the AutoCAD file and check the unit defult settings. Select Format then Units, confirm the insertion scale, units to scale inserted content: and enter the correct 1:1 scale that you are using for your file. The example below is drawn in microns.

Check all dimensions

Format Units

Microns

WARNING: Nothing can be done in LEdit to correct an incorrect AutoCAD file! Now that your file is in L-Edit and you have a clear understanding of the GDS file format, it is time to move on to the next step; export your file as a .gds. Three requirements of creating a .gds file are that every layer of interest must have a GDSII layer number, all geometry must be in the positive quadrant and, you must be aware of the hierarchical cell arrangement. Table 2 explains this process step by step. Table 2: The CAD file of an image must be exported to GDSII format which is a binary representation of the polygons that make up the image. This format tracks the layer and hierarchical information for the file and thus, this information must be checked for correctness before exporting a GDS format. Step 1: With your file open, select a location for the origin that places all of your geometry in the positive quadrant. You can relocate the origin by selecting zero and clicking with your mouse on the desired location. Image Positive Quadrant Origin

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Step 2: Check each layer of interest and confirm that each layer has a unique GDSII number. To check this select Setup for the menu bar, then select Layers; the dialog box shown below will appear. Mark each layer of interest with a unique and meaningful number. The example below only has one layer of interest. Layers name

Layer GDSII number

Step 3: Open the main cell of your file. This is the cell that contains all of the geometry and instances that make up your image. For the example below, the main cell is called WindowParameter. Select File > Export> GDSII. This is similar to importing a dxf. Refer to Table 1 step 3 for a screen shot. For most cases the options not shown below are fine as the default specifies and do not need to be changed. Once you have selected the items described below you can select export. Your GDSII file will be in the location you specified. Main Cell WindowParameter Export Cell: List the cell that contains all the geometry and instances for the image

Name file and select its location. If the file has complex shapes such as circles, check to fracture polygons with more than 199 vertices

Fracturing
Fracturing is the process of converting boundary information into a set of rectangular flashes that cover a boundary. This is not a trivial problem and an enormous amount of effort has gone into developing the algorithms that make this possible. [4] For details on how fracturing approximates shapes with rectangles refer to the Design Guidelines for Maskmaking on the LNF website. http://lnf.umich.edu/ToolDocs/doc00013.pdf

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GDS2PG
GDS2PG is the main fracturing engine converting GDSII polygons into rectangles. It determines the interior of each figure and pulls the edges of the figure inward until a boundary or vertex is struck to form rectangles. Edges may need to be subdivided to avoid gaps in the interior of the figure. The program detects acute interior angles and generates multiple small flashes to approximate the angle as it is impossible to exactly fracture an interior angle less than 90 degrees. [4] This is the first step of a two step process. The second step formats the fractured data into the exact command syntax required by each type of pattern generator. The MNF requires the output to be in an e-mask (.em) format. Table 3 explains this process step by step. Table 3: A GDSII file must be converted into a fractured file, called an e-mask file. The process converts binary information about the image into boundary information that is then reproduced using a series of rectangular approximations. Step 1: Open the Asm2600 v7.01 program. Typically there is an icon on the desk top as shown below. You will want to specify the working directory. This will need to be specified every time you open the program. Go to File > Preferences > Working directory, and specify the directory you want to work with.

Step 2: Select the GDS file you saved earlier. Once you have selected your file the system will ask you to save a configuration file (.cfg). If this file has not been made previously then the system will save a new file. If the file exists the system will write over the old one. Make sure you are in the directory you want and select open. If the system asked to create the file, select yes.

Step 3: The Structure selection dialog box will appear. You need to select the main cell, the cell that contains all of the desired geometry and instances, then select OK.

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Step 4: Select configuration; a dialog box will open. This dialog box has three tabs: Options, Mask Options and Output. In the options tab you will to specify the values shown below. However, the scale size will be either 1 for a PG mask and 5 for a PG reticle. The values in the task options tab are shown below. The minimum flash dimension is 1.25 um; this is an equipment limit and cannot be changed. The last tab is the output tab; select EMask and Use disk for PG buffer. When all parameters are set select OK.

Step 5: The next item to select is called Layers. Once you select the layers button you will see a layers setting dialog. Select all the layers that pertain to your file and select OK.

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Step 6: Select the translate icon. The file will now process. When it is done a report will pop up giving you the status of the translation. If any warnings or error occur it will give you a count of each and ask if you want to continue. If all is well, continue. If you get warnings and errors and still continue, that is ok. When the translation is done it will show a report of the warnings/errors and you may trouble shoot from there. Ok, given that all is well and your file translated successfully, you may select View PG files to view the results.

Step 7: Select File > Export and an export dialog box will appear. Go through each tab and select the information as it pertains to your job. Select OK. A .em file will be saved to the directory that you specified previously. Now you have a file to use in the lab.

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Appendix A
STANDARD TOOL-BAR BUTTON MENU COMMAND FILE > NEW FILE > PRINT FILE > SAVE FILE > PRINT EDIT > CUT EDIT > COPY EDIT > PASTE EDIT > UNDO EDIT > REDO EDIT > EDIT IN-PLACE > PUSH INTO EDIT > EDIT IN-PLACE > POP OUT EDIT > FIND EDIT > FIND NEXT EDIT > FIND PREVIOUS VIEW > GO-TO EDITING TOOL-BAR BUTTON MENU COMMAND EDIT > DUPLICATE DRAW > ROTATE > 90 DEGREES DRAW > ROTATE > ANY DEGREE DRAW > FLIP > HORIZONTAL DRAW > NIBBLE DRAW > SLICE > HORIZONTAL DRAW > SLICE > VERTICAL DRAW > NIBBLE DRAW > BOOLEAN / GROW OPERATIONS DRAW > MERGE DRAW > GROUP DRAW > UNGROUP EDIT > EDIT OBJECT (S) DRAW > MOVE BY DRAWING TOOL-BAR MENU COMMAND CURSOR TOOL BOX 90 POLYGON 45 POLYGON ALL-ANGLE POLYGON CROSSORTHOGONAL WIRE 22

VIEW > DESIGN BUTTON NAVIGATOR VIEW > ZOOM > MOUSE VIEW > INSIDES > TOGGLE INSIDES VIEW > HIERARCHY LEVEL CELL > OPEN CELL > COPY TOOLS > SECTION

TOOLS > REGENERATE T-CELLS HELP > L-EDIT USER GUIDE ALIGNING AND DISTRIBUTING OBJECTS TOOL-BAR BUTTON MENU COMMAND DRAW > ALIGN > LEFT

45 WIRE ALL-ANGLE WIRE WIRE WIDTH CIRCLE PIE WEDGE

DRAW > ALIGN > MULTI GRID TOOL-BAR HORIZONTAL CENTER DRAW > ALIGN > BUTTON MENU COMMAND RIGHT DRAW > ALIGN > MOUSE GRID 1
CENTERS

DRAW > ALIGN > VERTICAL CENTER DRAW > ALIGN > BOTTOM DRAW > ALIGN > DISTRIBUTE HORIZONTALLY DRAW > ALIGN > DISTRIBUTE EVENLY VERTICALLY DRAW > ALIGN > DISTRIBUTE EVENLY HORIZONTALLY DRAW > ALIGN > TILE HORIZONTALLY DRAW > ALIGN > TILE VERTICALLY DRAW > ALIGN > TILE AS A 2D ARRAY BASE POINT TOOL-BAR BUTTON MENU COMMAND USE BASE POINT PICK BASE POINT ENTER COORDINATES TO LOCATE BASE POINT

MOUSE GRID 2 MOUSE GRID 3 MAX GRID

MANUFACTURING GRID

MAKE COARSER MAKE FINER SET NUDGE FROM SNAP GRID MOUSE SNAP GRID OBJECT SNAP TOOL-BAR BUTTON MENU COMMAND VERTEX MIDPOINT EDGE CENTER QUADRANT 23

PIN ENABLE OBJECT SNAP

Hot Keys
MENU COMMAND HOT KEY ADD-INS / ADD \ EDIT GDS ALT + P PROPERTIES BOOLEAN OPERATIONS CELL COPY CELL INSTANCE CELL NEW CELL OPEN CELL RENAME CONTACTS \UP (SINGLE) CONTACTS\DOWN (AREA) CONTACTS\DOWN (SINGLE) CONTACTS\UP (AREA) COPY CUT DESELECT ALL DRAW TEMPORARY RULER
DUPLICATE

MENU COMMAND OBJECT SNAP INSTANCE OBJECT SNAP MIDPOINT OBJECT SNAP PIN OBJECT SNAP VERTEX ORIGIN MOVE PAN BY PAN DOWN PAN LEFT PAN RIGHT PAN TO BOTTOM EDGE PAN TO LEFT EDGE PAN TO RIGHT EDGE PAN TO SELECTIONS PAN TO TOP EDGE PAN UP
PASTE

HOT KEY SHIFT + S SHIFT + D SHIFT + T SHIFT + V 0 NUM 0

ALT + F

B C I INS N O SHIFT + R ] SHIFT+[ [ SHIFT + ] CTRL + C SHIFT + INS CTRL + X SHIFT + PERIOD ALT + A T CTRL + D BACKSPACE CTRL + B DEL CTRL + E ALT + D ALT + S F9 X CTRL + W CTRL + P

DOWN LEFT RIGHT SHIFT + DOWN SHIFT + LEFT SHIFT + RIGHT ALT + Y SHIFT + UP UP CTRL + V SHIFT + INS ALT + V A CTRL + Q PAGE UP CTRL + PAGE UP PAGE DOWN CTRL DOWN + PAGE

EDIT CLEAR EDIT OBJECTS ENABLE INTERACTIVE DRC ENABLE OBJECT SNAP EXCHANGE VIEW FILE CLOSE FILE PRINT

PASTE TO LAYER PICK LAYER PLACE BASE POINT POP EDIT IN PLACE POP TO TOP CELL PUSH EDIT IN PLACE PUSH TO OBJECT

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FILE SAVE FIND FIND NEXT FIND PREVIOUS FLASH LAST SELECT OBJECT FLIP HORIZONTAL FLIP VERTICAL FORCE MOVE GOTO DEVICE GROUP HIDE INSIDES
HIDE LEAVES

CTRL + S CTRL + F F P CTRL + SPACE H V ALT + M ALT + G CTRL + G D ALT + L L SHIFT + F Z M ALT + X CTRL + DOWN CTRL + LEFT CTRL + RIGHT CTRL + UP J K SHIFT + C SHIFT + E

REDO REDRAW ROTATE ROTATE ANY ANGLE

CTRL + Y SPACE R CTRL + R

SDF DRIVER PROPERTIES \ EDIT ALT + E PIN SELECT ALL SELECTION TOOL SHOW LEAVES SHOW ONE LESS LEVEL SHOW ONE MORE LEVEL TOGGLE INSIDES TOGGLE RELATIVE W GRID UNDO UNGROUP USE BASE POINT VIEW VIEW HOME VIEW SHOW INSIDES VIEW TOP CELL EDIT IN PLACE WIRE UTILITIES / SLICE WIRE UTILITIES/ JOIN WIRE UTILITIES\EXTEND ZOOM BY ZOOM IN ZOOM OUT ZOOM TO SELECTION CTRL + A ESC ALT + B U Y CTRL + I TAB Q ALT + BACKSPACE CTRL + Z CTRL + U SHIFT + Q F10 HOME S END CTRL + L CTRL + J E ALT + Z + NUM + NUM W

LAYER PALETTE LOCATOR BAR FORMAT MOUSE ZOOM MOVE BY NIBBLE NUDGE DOWN NUDGE LEFT NUDGE RIGHT NUDGE UP OBJECT PAN \ LEFT OBJECT PAN \ RIGHT OBJECT SNAP CENTER OBJECT SNAP EDGE

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References
[1] T a n n e r R e s e a r c h , I n c . , F i r s t . T a n n e r E D A S p e e d C o n c e p t t o S i l i c o n T a n n e r Tools Tutorial. Tanner Research, Inc., 2010. 66. Print. [2] "Masks and Reti cles." SiliconFarEast.com. N.p., 2005. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://www.siliconfareast.com/masks -reticles.htm>. [3] Wikipedia contributors. "GDSII." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDSII> [4] "GDS2PG Fracturing Engine." Microlab.Berkeley. N/A, N/A. Web. 1 Apr 2011. <http://microlab.berkeley.edu/computers/cad/gds2pg.pdf>. [5] "Alignment Targets." Suss Report July 2008 (2008): 20. Web. 22 Apr 2011. <http://www.suss.com/fileadmin/files/company/suss report/suss_report_July_2008.pdf >.

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