Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: Cadence Design Systems
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 10 June 2004
Pair resolve to bridge software gap
Cadence has signed a multiyear multi-million-dollar software licensing and joint development agreement with ASML MaskTools for advanced resolution enhancement technology software solutions.
Cadence has signed a multiyear multi-million-dollar software licensing and joint development agreement with ASML MaskTools for advanced resolution enhancement technology (RET) software solutions The two companies will work together to develop a tightly integrated design for manufacturability (DFM) flow
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 Nov 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Under the agreement, Cadence will license and codevelop two ASML MaskTools software packages: MaskWeaver, a full-chip RET and optical proximity correction (OPC) mask and optimisation solution, and LithoCruiser, a lithography process analysis and optimisation solution.
Cadence will become the sole worldwide distributor for MaskWeaver, whereas both Cadence and ASML MaskTools will distribute LithoCruiser to their respective electronic design automation (EDA) and manufacturing customers.
The products will be offered as stand-alone and integrated solutions within the Cadence Encounter and Virtuoso design platforms.
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These best-of-breed solutions will bridge the design-to-manufacturing gap and accelerate the rate at which customers can reach 65nm and below in their semiconductor processes.
"The extension of optical lithography techniques at and beyond 65nm emphasises a new level of interdependence between design and lithography.
Our customers want to shorten production ramp and improve volume production yield through the use of the most advanced design tools linked to the most advanced technologies for resolution enhancement", said Lavi Lev, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cadence Design Systems.
"With this new agreement, Cadence customers gain access to leading-edge RET and lithography simulation software as well as the world-class development team at ASML MaskTools".
"ASML and Cadence share many of the same customers", said Dinesh Bettadapur, president and CEO, ASML MaskTools.
"However, we approach them from different technological domains".
"Cadence is an acknowledged leader in EDA software and ASML MaskTools has long championed the drive to smaller design node geometries through innovative manufacturing technologies and software products".
"Together, we will deliver the most complete DFM product portfolio to chip designers and manufacturers".
Optical proximity effects occur when a chip has features that are smaller than the wavelength of light being used to print the feature pattern.
It can lead to linewidth variations and other distortions that can decrease IC performance or cause complete failure of the design.
RETs are employed to correct these effects.
A dominant technology used in RET is optical proximity correction (OPC).
OPC compensates for these distortions and enhances manufacturability by applying advanced techniques to photomasks to enable higher resolution printing on the silicon wafer.
Silicon simulation technologies enable designers to replicate and predict the print quality of a design in silicon before the manufacturer agrees to a final design.
Integrating chip design platforms with OPC and silicon simulation technologies provides a link between the worlds of semiconductor design and manufacturing.
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