Synopsys and Varian collaborate on process models for advanced logic and memory technologies

MOUNTAIN VIEW & GLOUCESTER, USA: Synopsys Inc. and Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc., the leading producer of ion implantation equipment used in the manufacture of semiconductors, have announced a collaboration to develop Technology CAD (TCAD) models for cryogenic ion implantation.

By enabling faster optimization of the cryogenic implant process through simulation, the models derived from this collaboration will speed up process development of advanced CMOS and memory technologies and reduce process development cost and time-to-market.

Ion implantation forms transistor structures in semiconductor silicon through energetic ion beams. These ions disrupt the crystal structure of the silicon, creating end-of-range damage that impacts device performance as devices shrink. To neutralize the damage, Varian's latest generation of high current implanters enables the ion implantation process to occur at reduced wafer temperature (cryogenic implant), resulting in significant reduction of end-of-range damage, minimizing device leakage and widening process margins.

"Today semiconductor manufacturers face tremendous challenges in improving device performance, achieving high product yield, reducing process R&D costs and meeting time-to-market targets. Therefore, it is increasingly critical for simulation to support novel process techniques to reduce technology development time and cost," said Dr Yuri Erokhin, senior director for strategic technologies at Varian.

"Cryogenic ion implant has been proven to significantly improve transistor performance and is a key enabler in the manufacture of advanced devices. This collaboration with Synopsys will enable our mutual customers to explore and optimize the cryogenic implant process with simulation, reducing time-to-market."

Through this collaboration, Synopsys will use experimental data from Varian's cryogenic implant process to develop and calibrate models for its TCAD Sentaurus tools, which are widely used by semiconductor companies in the development and optimization of new manufacturing technologies.

"To reduce development time and cost, our customers need TCAD models that are calibrated to the actual equipment used to fabricate the silicon," said Howard Ko, senior vice president and general manager of the Silicon Engineering Group at Synopsys. "Our joint work with Varian to develop TCAD models for this new cryogenic implant process is an example of our commitment to keep our TCAD Sentaurus tools at the forefront of semiconductor process development."