Synopsys and TSMC Enable Lithography Compliance Checking for 20 nm

Synopsys, Inc., a global leader providing software, IP and services used to accelerate innovation in chips and electronic systems, today announced the delivery of lithography compliance checking technology for the TSMC 20-nanometer (nm) DFM Data Kit (DDK) encapsulated with Synopsys Proteus mask synthesis technologies. As a result of the design-for-manufacturing collaboration between TSMC and Synopsys, the compliance checking engine in the DDK helps designers identify lithography-related problems early in the design development phase, avoid litho-related manufacturing issues and late-stage schedule slips resulting from re-design.

The TSMC 20-nm DDK complements traditional physical verification rules with a highly accurate simulation-based solution to identify design non-compliance using a direct simulation of the manufacturing process. Lithography correction and verification tools used in the manufacturing mask synthesis flow are embedded in the DDK, resulting in accurate hotspot detection to avoid litho-related manufacturing issues.