Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/J45824/01
Title:	AUTOMATED THREE DIMENSIONAL INTERCONNECT SIMULATION FOR SUB-MICRON CIRCUIT DESIGN
Principal Investigator:	Walton, Professor AJ
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Sch of Engineering
Organisation:	University of Edinburgh
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 February 1994	Ends:	31 January 1997	Value (£):	112,860
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Design & Testing Technology
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Electronics
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
1. Development of a topography description language.2. Use of the topography description language to automatically create 3-D data input files directly from IC layouts. Progress:In modern IC technology, interconnect has a major impact upon circuit performance and must be accounted for in any design. However, the 3-D nature of an integrated circuit makes the creation of realistic data files a long and error prone process. As a result IC designers do not routinely extract interconnect parasitics. Software is available that creates 3-D data files on the assumption that all the interconnect has been fully planarised. Unfortunately, in most cases this is a poor approximation to reality where the LOCOS process and the subsequent build up of layers results in a topography which is distinctly non-planar. The 3DTOP software that has been developed as part of this project takes a GDSII layout file together with a technology file and uses this to create a 3-D data file assuming that the layers are conformally deposited. An example of the 3-D the softwares capability is illustrated below where the structure created from layout of an array of SLM cells is compared with an SEM picture. It should be noted that the inter-layer dielectrics and passivation layer of the 3DTOP data have not been displayed. Future work will concentrate on extending 3DTOP to enable it to generate datafiles for technologies with semi-conformal depositions as well as refining the algorithms to better represent the observed topography.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ed.ac.uk