Automatic process and design method, system and program product
View Patent ↗A method, system and program product for generating a process aid on a wafer are disclosed. A “process aid” can be any device provided on a wafer that assists in some process step, but does not ultimately make up part of a usable die. The invention implements libraries of technology design rules, and process aid parameters, and a process aid instruction file library to allow automatic generation of a process aid according to the technology design rules and parameters. As a result, all the inputs required to build a process aid are available up front, which allows the invention to automatically adjust kerf designs to conform to the new technologies. In addition, the invention provides documentation indicating the inputs and details of the process aid produced.
1. A method for generating a process aid on a wafer, the method comprising:
entering a process technology and a process aid type to be built into a program;
reading technology design rules and process aid parameters for the process aid type into the program;
accessing a process aid instruction file to attain instructions for building the process aid; and
building the process aid on the wafer using the instructions based on the technology design rules and the process aid parameters, the process aid being different than a kerf on the wafer.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the building step includes building the process aid in one of a kerf and a sacrificial die on the wafer.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instructions include scheme code.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of documenting the process aid.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the documentation includes process aid location.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of the steps of verifying the process aid against production data and testing the process aid.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of rerunning the step of building.
8. A system for generating a process aid on a wafer, the system comprising:
means for entering a process technology and a process aid type into a program;
means for reading technology design rules and process aid parameters for the process aid into the program;
means for accessing a process aid instruction file to attain instructions for building the process aid; and
means for building the process aid on the wafer using the instructions based on the technology design rules and process aid parameters, the process aid being different than a kerf on the wafer.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the process aid is one of an electrical device and an optical device.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions include scheme code.
11. The system of claim 8 , further comprising means for documenting the process aid.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the documentation includes process aid location.
13. The system of claim 8 , further comprising means for verifying the process aid against production data.
14. The system of claim 8 , further comprising means for testing the process aid.
15. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for generating a process aid on a wafer, the program product comprising:
program code configured to allow entering a process technology and the process aid type;
program code configured to read technology design rules and process aid parameters for the process aid;
program code configured to access a process aid instruction file to attain instructions for building the process aid; and
program code configured to build the process aid on the wafer using the instructions based on the technology design rules and process aid parameters, the process
aid being different than a kerf on the wafer.
16. The program product of claim 15 , wherein the process aid is one of an electrical device and an optical device.
17. The program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions include scheme code.
18. The program product of claim 15 , further comprising program code configured to document the process aid.
19. The program product of claim 15 , further comprising program code configured to verify the process aid against production data.
20. The program product of claim 15 , further comprising program code configured to test the process aid.