Automatic Generation of Thin Film Process Flows – Part II: Recipe Generation, Flow Evaluation, and System Framework

Abstract—This paper is the second in a series of two papers describing the methodology and algorithms used in the development of MISTIC (Michigan Synthesis Tools for Integrated Circuits). Part I discussed the basic topological algorithms used to produce generic sequences of processing steps required for the fabrication of a given device structure. Part II discusses the expansion of these sequences into complete process flows. This procedure involves the selection of specific recipes from a set of available processing resources and the calculation of recipe parameters. These processing resources are stored in a database central to the MISTIC system framework. Since many process flows are generated for a given device, the paper also discusses the calculation of suitable figures of merit. The capabilities of the MISTIC system are demonstrated with a BiCMOS example. The MISTIC system framework which contains the basic compiler and several supporting modules: a device builder, process viewer, and database editor is also presented.