System and method for product yield prediction
First Claim
1. A method for predicting a yield for integrated circuits comprising:
- a) providing information for fabricating at least one type of characterization vehicle having at least one feature which is representative of at least one type of feature to be incorporated into a final integrated circuit product;
b) fabricating a characterization vehicle which embodies layout features representative of the product employing at least one of the process operations making up the fabrication cycle to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit product;
c) providing a product layout;
d) extracting layout characteristics from the product layout, comprising;
1) listing all structures in the characterization vehicle;
2) classifying each structure into families such that all structures in each family form an experiment over a particular attribute; and
3) for each family, determining which attributes are to be extracted for the product layout; and
e) using the extracted layout characteristics in connection with a yield model to produce a yield prediction.
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Abstract
A system and method for predicting yield of integrated circuits includes at least one type of characterization vehicle which incorporates at least one feature which is representative of at least one type of feature to be incorporated in the final integrated circuit product. The characterization vehicle is subjected to at least one of the process operations making up the fabrication cycle to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit product in order to produce a yield model. The yield model embodies a layout as defined by the characterization vehicle and preferably includes features which facilitate the gathering of electrical test data and testing of prototype sections at operating speeds. An extraction engine extracts predetermined layout attributes from a proposed product layout. Operating on the yield model, the extraction engine produces yield predictions as a function of layout attributes and broken down by layers or steps in the fabrication process. These yield predictions are then used to determine which areas in the fabrication process require the most improvement.
236 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for predicting a yield for integrated circuits comprising:
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a) providing information for fabricating at least one type of characterization vehicle having at least one feature which is representative of at least one type of feature to be incorporated into a final integrated circuit product;
b) fabricating a characterization vehicle which embodies layout features representative of the product employing at least one of the process operations making up the fabrication cycle to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit product;
c) providing a product layout;
d) extracting layout characteristics from the product layout, comprising;
1) listing all structures in the characterization vehicle;
2) classifying each structure into families such that all structures in each family form an experiment over a particular attribute; and
3) for each family, determining which attributes are to be extracted for the product layout; and
e) using the extracted layout characteristics in connection with a yield model to produce a yield prediction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for predicting a yield for an integrated circuit comprising:
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a) providing a characterization vehicle having structures representative of structures to be incorporated into a final integrated circuit product;
b) providing a product layout;
c) extracting attributes of the product layout, comprising;
classifying the structures in the characterization vehicle into families of structures, wherein each family of structures corresponds to an experiment for a particular attribute of the product layout;
for each family of structures, determining which attributes are to be extracted from the product layout; and
d) using the extracted attributes in connection with a yield model to produce a yield prediction. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for predicting yield of integrated circuits comprising:
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a) a characterization vehicle having structures representative of features to be incorporated into a final integrated circuit product;
b) a product layout; and
c) an extraction engine configured to;
classify the structures in the characterization vehicle into families of structures, wherein each family of structures corresponds to an experiment for an attribute of the product layout, for each family of structures, determine which attributes are to be extracted from the product layout; and
produce a yield prediction using the extracted attributes in connection with a yield model. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
a) Kelvin metal critical dimension structure;
b) snake structure;
c) comb structure;
d) snake and comb structures;
e) nest defect size distribution structure;
f) van der Pauw structure;
g) optical proximity correction structure; and
h) scanning electron microscopy structures.
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16. A system in accordance with claim 14 wherein the extraction engine is also used when designing a characterization vehicle.
Specification