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Antenna Effect
Antenna Effect
BY REVANU ZALAKI
Antenna effect
Modern wafer processing uses ‘Plasma etch’ (or ‘dry etch’). Plasma is
an ionized/reactive gas used to etch.
It allows super control of pattern (shaper edges / less undercut) and
also allows several chemical reactions that are not possible in
traditional (wet) etch. Apart from this, several unwanted things happen
just because of several plasma processing steps. One of them is the
charging damage.
Plasma charging damage refers to the unintended high-field stressing
of the gate-oxide in MOSFET during plasma processing.
Antenna effect in cmos layout
1. Change the order of the routing layers. If the gate(s) immediately connects to the
highest metal layer, no antenna violation will normally occur. This solution is
shown in Figure (a).
2. Add vias near the gate(s), to connect the gate to the highest layer used. This adds
more vias, but involves fewer changes to the rest of the net. This is shown in Figure
(b).
3. Add diode(s) to the net, as shown in Figure (c). A diode can be formed away from a
MOSFET source/drain, for example, with an n+ implant in a p-substrate or with a
p+ implant in an n-well. If the diode is connected to metal near the gate(s), it can
protect the gate oxide. This can be done only on nets with violations, or on every
gate (in general by putting such diodes in every library cell). The "every cell"
solution can fix almost all antenna problems with no need for action by any other
tools. However, the extra capacitance of the diode makes the circuit slower and
more power hungry.
How to eliminate the antenna effect
Design Solution to reduce Antenna Effects
1. Router options Break signal wires and route to upper metal layers by jumper
insertion All metal being etched is not connected to a gate until the last metal
layer is etched.
2. Dummy transistors Addition of extra gates will reduce the capacitance ratio.
PFETs more susceptible than NFETs Problem of reverse Antenna Effects.
3. Embedded Protection Diode Connect reverse biased diodes to the gate of
transistor (during normal circuit operation, the diode does not affect
functionality)
4. Diode insertion after placement and route Connect diodes only to those layers
with antenna violations. One diode can be used to protect all input ports that are
connected to the same output ports.
Design Solution to reduce Antenna Effects
Jumper Insertion Breaks Up a LongWire