MOSIS OVERVIEW
OCTOBER, 2003
César A. Piña
http://www.mosis.org
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
WHO WE ARE
http://www.mosis.org
 Non-profit Microelectronics broker, dedicated to
provide:
 Low cost engineering samples of IC designs,
 Low-volume production service,
 ~50% of MOSIS’ submicron runs are “Dedicated runs” (i.e., low
volume production runs)
 Access to latest production proven technologies
 Single point of interface to its customers for additional services or
products offered by partner vendors,
 Latest version of foundries’ design/electrical rules and spice models
 Educational Program for Microelectronics Design
 Experience - 22 Years of Operation
 Unique: Only non-sponsored service in the world which
provides access to multiple technologies & fabricators
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TYPES OF CUSTOMERS
 Companies With Pilot Projects Requiring
Engineering Samples for Proof of Concept
 Companies With Small Volume Production
Requirements
 Government Agencies
 Universities : Research, Education (VLSI
Design Classes)
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WHAT WE DO
 Provide Access to multiple technologies and fabricators
 Organize Multiproject and Single Customer Dedicated
Runs
 Collect and Merge Designs
 Provide Fully Checked Merged Designs to Mask Shop
 Production Compatible Masks to Foundry
 Mid Range Volumes (e.g. 500, 2000) Available
 Support Users
 Design Kit Distribution
 Handle Design Questions
 Design Rules, Modeling, IP, Etc.
 Include Reference Designs on MPW Runs (To verify yield)
 Work Closely With Design, IP Providers
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http://www.mosis.org
UFY2003 PERCENT SALES BY
ACCOUNT TYPE
US_UNIV
16%
EXP_IND
21%
US_RLAB
9%
EXP_UNIV
10%
US_GO V
1%
US_IND
43%
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Sample Multiproject Wafer
http://www.mosis.org
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Sample Multiproject 0.18 Reticle
http://www.mosis.org
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Sample Multiproject 0.18µ Reticle
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THREE PHASES:
http://www.mosis.org
Phase I: 1981-1985 – 100% DARPA Direct Funding
 Phase II: 1985-1994 - Multi-Agency Direct Funding


DARPA: ~67% ==>80%
 Subsidized All Undersubscribed Runs
 NSA ~26% ==> 10%
 NSF/DARPA Educational Program Starts: ~$900k/yr.

NSF: ~7% ==> 5%
 Commercial Customers: ~0%  5%
 Helped to defray Government Costs by using excess area.

Phase III: 1994-2003 - Self-Sustaining Operations

Commercial Customers are Only Source of Revenue
 Multi-Sponsor Ed. Program
 NSF (1994-1998)
 Commercial Firms

MOSIS
 SRC/SIA (2000-2002)
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Available Technologies
http://www.mosis.org








IBM 5HP/DM:
IBM 6HP/6DM:
IBM 6RF:
IBM 7SF:
IBM 7WL
IBM 8SF:
AMI ABN:
AMI C5N:
AMI C3N
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
SiGe 0.50µ
SiGe 0.25µ
CMOS 0.25µ
CMOS 0.18
CMOS 0.18
CMOS 0.13
CMOS 1.50µ
CMOS 0.50µ
CMOS 0.35µ







TSMC CL035:
TSMC CL025/CM025:
TSMC CL018/CM018:
Peregrine SOI-SOS:
AMS BiCMOS (CMP)
OMMIC GaAs (CMP)
VITESSE
InP
0.35µ
0.25µ
0.18µ
0.50µ
0.8µ
0.2µ
HBT
SIA 2001 Roadmap
+MOSIS Roadmap
550
500
450
TECHNOLOGY NODE (n m)
400
350
MOSIS
300
250
200
SIA
150
100
50
0
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
YEAR
2001 Roadmap
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MOSIS
2005
2007
2009
Gate Delay (Ps) vs. Feature Size
31 Stage CMOS Ring Oscillator
600
500
Gate Delay (ps)
400
300
200
100
0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
Feature Size (microns)
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY
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FAB COSTS
 Lithography has become the most significant cost item in
deep submicron fab
 Wafer and mask costs relatively the same until the 0.35µ node
 Different lithography technologies
 1X Stepper Lithography
 Medium payload: ~ 900 sqmm; 1.5µ is lowest practical limit
 5X Stepper Lithography
 Small Payload: 480 sqmm max.
 Technology of choice for 1.2µ and below
 0.5µ - 1.6µ mask tech. Straightforward
 0.18µ - Mix and Match: 5X and 4X Stepper/Scanner Reticles
 VERY EXPENSIVE 25x cost of 1.5 µ masks
 0.13 µ-Mix and Match: 5 and 4x
 US $500k-$750k per mask set
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
Optical Lithography:
Resolution Limits
(nm)
k = 0.68
(Conventional)
With
Resolution
Enhancements
k = 0.25
(Physical
Limit)
365 (Hg ILine)
248(DUV)
500
250
125
225
180
85
193(DUV)
175
130
65
157(DUV)
145
110
55
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RESOLUTION ENHANCEMENTS:
OPTICAL PROXIMITY CORRECTIONS
Hammerhead
Jogs
Inside serifs
(clear)
Outside serifs
(chrome)
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RESOLUTION ENHANCEMENTS:
OPC For Contacts
 Optical Proximity Correction
No OPC
OPC Applied
CONTACT ON WAFER: 0.5 X 0.5um
CONTACT ON MASK : 2.5 X 2.5um
CORNER BOX DIMENSIONS: 0.5um x 0.5um
 Diffraction at corners of small vias and/or
contacts results in incomplete resist exposure.
 Not needed for 0.35um or larger
 Is required for S < 0.2 um
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
RESOLUTION ENHANCEMENTS:
PHASE SHIFT MASKS
 PHASE SHIFT MASKS
Incoming radiation
Chrome Pattern
Groove Depth = 1/2 wavelength of
light
Interference effects between light
passing through the groove and the
middle of the feature, produce a sharp
line.
 Masks very expensive
 Geometry dependent- Difficult to get arbitrary
shapes
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DEEP SUBMICRON
PLANARIZATION
Passivation Layer
Metal Lines
If metal lines are close together, passivation layer can be planarized
to the required degree, otherwise, additional metal lines have to
be added to the design’s photo masks. This process should be
transparent to the designer.
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SUBMITTED GEOMETRY
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“METAL FILL” ADDITION TO
SUBMITTED GEOMETRY
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NUMBER of MASKS
vs
FEATURE SIZE
40
36
35
Number of Masks
30
30
25
22
20
15
15
15
13
11
10
10
7
5
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Feature Size (um)
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3
3.5
4
4.5
5
TYPICAL FILE SIZE (Mb)
vs
FEATURE SIZE ()
1000
FILE SIZE (Mb)
100
10
1
0.1
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
FEATURE SIZE
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3
3.5
4
4.5
5
WAFER AND MASK COSTS NORMALIZED
TO COSTS OF 1.5 FEATURE SIZE
60.0
50.0
MASKS
COST RATIO
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
WAFERS
0.0
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
FEATURE SIZE
Mask Set
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
Wafers
TOTAL
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
MOSIS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
(MEP)
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EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
 Description
 The MEP provides free fabrication of integrated circuits designed by
students at accredited educational institutions in the U.S., Central
and South America, Spain, New Zealand and Australia
 Geographical limits set by available MOSIS resources
 Two types of accounts
 INSTRUCTIONAL
 RESEARCH
 Eligibility
 Fabrication of student designs is available to accredited universities
who agree to the following terms:
 Design, simulation, and testing tools must be specified
 A report must be sent to MOSIS for each fabricated circuit.
 Further Details can be found at http://www.mosis.org
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
ACCOUNT DESCRIPTIONS
 INSTRUCTIONAL Program
 Designs from students in organized classes –
Undergraduate and Graduate
 Enrollment at beginning of the Quarter/Semester
 Each student is allocated a “Tiny Chip Unit” of area
 Detailed reports on chip test results are required for every
chip fabricated
 “The chip worked as expected” is not a sufficient report
 Technologies
 CMOS Analog/digital 1.5µ, 0.5µ
 1.5µ Technology: Tiny Chip Unit size is 2.2mm X 2.2mm
 0.5µ Technology: Tiny Chip Unit size is 1.5mm X 1.5mm
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
ACCOUNT DESCRIPTIONS
 RESEARCH Program
 Restricted to non-sponsored research : Thesis or research projects
 Mini-proposal (2-3 pg., or more if necessary) required: Design
description, design tools, testing, simulation, purpose.
 One design per proposal: Must be clear and detailed, including desired
technology and an accurate chip size estimate.
 Final report required upon completion
 May be a copy of an internal report or a published paper
 Projects are selected by MOSIS based on merit and
originality
 Selected designs are fabricated in regularly scheduled
MOSIS runs,
on a space available basis.
 Technologies
 CMOS 1.5µ, 0.5µ, 0.35µ, 0.25µ, 0.18µ, 0.13µ; SiGe: 0.5µ & 0.25µ
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
Program Oversight and
Institution Eligibility
 Program Oversight
 MOSIS Advisory Council for Education
 University Professors, SRC, Industrial Contributors
 Institution Eligibility
 All U.S. Universities
 Non-U.S. Universities:
 Funding Provided Solely by MOSIS
 1999: Instructional and Research MEP extended to include Latin
American, New Zealand and Australian Universities
 2002: Research MEP Access extended to include Europe
 Current geographical restrictions are set by available MOSIS
resources.
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Educational Program
Funding

1984-1994: Funding was provided solely by:

National Science Foundation (NSF) (~$575k/yr)
 Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) (~$375k/yr)

1995-1999: Funding provided by:

National Science Foundation (NSF)
 AMI, HP: Wafer run donations
 MOSIS: Administrative costs

2000-2003


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AMI: Wafer run donations: 1.5um & 0.5um (4-5runs/yr)
IBM: Wafer fab 0.5um & 0.25um SiGe
SIA/SRC: Instructional &Advanced Program Fab (~$335k/yr)
Dupont: Discounted photomasks for educational only runs.
MOSIS Provides:
 All administrative expenses (~$110k/yr)
 Instructional and advanced Program Fab (~$600k/yr)
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
SUMMARY
 Low Cost Prototyping
 Regularly Scheduled Prototype Runs
 Low Volume Production
 Access to Latest TSMC and IBM Production
Technology
 Access to Important Third Party Resources
 Monitors Quality of Vendors and Processes
 Privately Funded VLSI Educational Program
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PROJECT SUBMISSION
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
MEP PERFORMANCE
and Technologies
 Ten Years: 1990 through 1999 inclusive
 12,130 Student Designs Processed
 > 50,000 Students Participated
 Total of 195 U.S. Universities
 1984-2003: Technologies Offered
 1984-1987: NMOS (3-4), CMOS (2-3)
 1988-1997: CMOS (2)
 1997-1999: CMOS (2, 1.5, 0.5, 0.35, 0.25)
 1999- 2000: CMOS(1.5, 0.5, 0.35, 0.25); SiGe;
 2001- >
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
: CMOS(1.5, 0.5, 0.35, 0.25, 0.18); SiGe;SOS
MOSIS Web Forms http://www.mosis.org
Project
submission,
tracking, etc.
Secure or nonsecure
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
COMPATIBLE DESIGN LIBRARIES
 Artisan
 Commercial Firms
 Free Digital Libraries, I/Os & Memories
 TSMC 0.25µ and 0.18µ processes
 Work with Commercial EDA tools: Avant!, Cadence, Synopsis
 Universities
 Complete front end views of core & I/O cells
 Behavioral, synthesis, simulation, P&R
 No GDS, MOSIS Instantiates the cells
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COMPATIBLE DESIGN LIBRARIES
 Barcelona Design
 Tools & services for analog synthesis of A/Ds, D/As, Op-Amps,
PLLs
 AMI 0.5µ, TSMC 0.35µ, 0.25µ, & 0.18µ Processes
 LEDA Systems
 Analog & RF Cells for the TSMC 0.25µ, & 0.18µ Processes
 Nurlogic
 Digital, Analog/RF & Special I/O Cells for:
 TSMC 0.25µ, & 0.18µ Processes
 IBM 6HP SiGe 0.25µ
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Standard Data Preparation
http://www.mosis.org
 Project Check
 Checks design syntax
 Checks layer names
 Computes the size, counts the pads
· Checks actual values with declared values
 DRC available (optional)
 Data Prep
 Sizing, logical operations (inc. OPC)
 Add CMP fill
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GENERAL QUESTIONS
 IMPORTANT: Get the GDS file into the system
properly, not as an attachment to an e-mail
(please: NEVER do this)
 MOSIS does not require require a seal on the edge
of your design
 MOSIS will install a seal ring which is part of the
definition of the scribelines for the reticle.
 This ring will not necessarily be in close proximity to
your layout,
 If you want a "guardring“ for whatever reasons (of your own),
then you should draw it yourself
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DESIGN RULE CHECKING

The design rules which must be followed are posted in the form of
DRC decks and Design Rule documents (MOSIS secure doc. server)





MOSIS routinely uses DRACULA for TSMC 0.25,
BUT moving to Mentor Graphics' "Calibre" for more advanced
technologies.
DRACULA works well enough for DRC and antenna checking.
For checking connectivity, MOSIS prefers the Calibre LVS deck,


MOSIS cannot possibly tell you that violating those rules is safe.
Since the DRACULA decks do not handle MiM metals correctly, this is
critical when checking for shorts.
Be sure and select the proper variants of the DRC decks;

for example, if you are using thick-top-metal, there is a special set of
thick-top-metal decks
 if you are using mixed-mode features such as MiM, or strange threshold
devices etc., use the mixed-mode decks etc.

Important, no two tools ever give the same flags for the same layout.
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 BASED (Scalable)
DESIGN RULES
 ADVANTAGES
 RULES
 Mead-Conway, 1979
 NMOS
 CMOS Rules
 JPL 1983
 SCMOS
 3-1.2 
 SCMOS_SUBM
 Sub-micron processes
 SCMOS_DEEP
 Modified
SCMOS_SUBM
 For 0.25  and below
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 Simplicity
 Easy to transfer designs to
another process
 Process Independent for all
MOSIS processes
 Suitable Designs
 R-F/ Analog designs may
need precise vendor rules
 Most other designs can use
these rules.
 For 0.25 the area penalty is
~3-5% compared to vendor
rules. Speed penalty is
negligible!
ADVANTAGES OF  BASED
SCALABLE RULES
 Simplicity
 Almost Completely Process Independent for all
MOSIS processes
 Suitable Designs
 R-F Analog designs may need precise vendor rules
 Most other designs can use these rules with minor
performance or area deficits
 For 0.25 the area penalty is ~3-5% compared to vendor
rules. Speed penalty is negligible
 Easy to transfer designs to another process
 One MOSIS customer has used the SCMOS simplest rules
in scaling a core design from 1.6 to 0.18 !
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UFY02 - Educational Projects
by Technology
Technology
MOSIS
Funded
SRC
Funded
Ed. Runs
SRC+AMI
TOTAL
0.18
9
3
0
12
0.25
1
7
0
8
0.35
6
8
0
14
0.50
99
106
240
445
1.5
27
141
41
209
SiGe 0.50
6
0
0
6
TOTALS
148
265
281
694
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Optical Lithography:
Resolution Limits
(nm)
N.A
365 (Hg ILine)
248(DUV)
0.50
0.75
0.50
0.75
0.50
0.75
0.50
0.75
193(DUV)
157(DUV)
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
k = 0.68
(Conventional)
500
330
340
225
260
175
215
145
With
Resolution
Enhancements
350
250
240
180
180
130
150
110
k = 0.25
(Physical
Limit)
180
125
120
85
97
65
80
55
PHASE SHIFT MASK S vs. BINARY
MASK S
 BINARY MASKS
 Clear and chrome only
 Transmits light
 Blocks/Reflects light
 Limited by:
 k1 and N.A. of Stepper
  of light
 OPC extends useful range
 0.35µ and 0.25 µ features
 Fastest mask cycletime
 (Lowest cost)
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
 PHASE SHIFT MASKS
 0/60/120/180º & Chrome
 Transmits with phase,
reduces “cross-talk”
 Chrome blocks light
 ‘Phase edge’ is dark
 Multiphase nulls defects
& transitions
 Enhances latitude, DOF,
and/or resolution
 Can be combined with
OPC
 Most involved flow and
longest cycle time
Relative Speed vs. Feature Size
50
45
Relative Speed (1.5 = 1.0
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
Feature Size (um)
USC INFORMATION SCIENCES INSTITUTE
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5