Managing technology CAD for competitive advantage: an efficient approach for integrated circuit fabrication technology development

This paper describes a methodology to exploit the full capabilities of technology computer-aided design (TCAD) for the development of integrated circuit fabrication processes. The development process of integrated circuits is represented by a simple model that describes the technology specifications at the beginning and the product specifications at the end of the product development cycle. Considering this model, different intermediate tasks are defined to obtain initial guess process recipe from the target product specifications. The complete technology development is shown to be achieved using TCAD in three different phases such as the generation of initial guess process recipe, the optimization of process technology, and the evaluation of process manufacturability. A simple quantitative analysis to estimate the major advantages of TCAD in reducing the cycle time and cost of technology development is presented. The technical limitations of TCAD and the measures to address these limitations are discussed. The organizational and social issues of the implementation of TCAD and the managerial responsibilities in adopting TCAD for the development of integrated-circuit fabrication process are also discussed.