VWF is an integrated environment of TCAD software to automate and emulate physical wafer manufacturing. These integrated tools facilitate the input, execution, run-time optimization, and results processing of TCAD simulations into one flow managed through a common database.

Key Features

• Enables process and device engineers to specify and achieve optimal process recipes


• Black box optimizer operates across both process and device simulators with a simple graphical interface


• Reduces cycle-time for development of new or derivative process technology


• Provides methodology to document process development technology


• Facilitates effective transfer of technology from development to manufacturing


• Analysis of process technology simulation data supports optimization and sustainability of production processes


• Facilitates rapid calibration of process flow with changes in production hardware and portability of process technology


• Analysis of potential high-field locations at operating bias enables reliability to be designed-in early in the device development cycle

Interactive Tools : Structure and Modules

Platforms: Solaris, HPUX, Linux, and Windows

DeckBuild Run-Time Environment

• Powerful front end tool that allows a user to transparently shift from process simulation to device simulation to spice model extraction in one input file


• Easy to use interactive environment for running core simulators


• Multiple windows provide menu-based or text-based input decks, run-time output of errors and results


• Offers complete control of run, kill, pause, stop-at, re-start, single-step, and history initialization operations


• The EXTRACT feature allows complex calculations to be e.g. oxide thickness, junction depth, VT breakdown voltage, etc.


• Includes hundreds of examples for all types of technologies

DeckBuild front end to the core simulators.

Optimizer Utility

• Optimizer supports all process and device simulators


• Variables include process variables (implant dose, energy, etc) or device variables such as interface charge or mobility


• Targets are specified as measured parameters, such as extracted threshold voltage, resistivity, junction depth, oxide thickness, and etc.

Optimizer controlled by DeckBuild allows process variables to be optimized to achieve user defined targets e.g. vt.

TonyPlot 1D/2D Interactive Visualization Utility

• Unsurpassed graphical analysis tools which is the key to prototyping and developing process and device designs


• Common visualization tool across all Silvaco TCAD products


• Provides comprehensive capabilities for viewing and analyzing simulator output


• Supports 1D x-y data, 2D plotting of contour data, Smith charts, polar charts, and import of measured data


• Integrates 1D cross-sections of 2D plots, rulers, probe, integrators, and other tools


• Compares multiple simulation runs through overlays


• Provides animation capabilities with “movie feature”


• Annotates plots to create meaningful figures for reports and presentations


• Plots to files, postscript printers, and other printer formats in sharp colors


• Enables 2D structures plots to be cut by multiple, independently controlled 1D slices


• Allows IV data or 1D plots to be overlayed to examine how process conditions affect electrical results


• Supports plotting of user-defined equations with the variables being either electrical data e.g. drain current, or physical parameters, e.g. electric field

TonyPlot 1D/2D allows important figures of merit to be overlayed (minimum noise figure at three designated frequencies of 2, 5 and 10 GHz).

TonyPlot 1D/2D allows important figures of merit to be overlayed (minimum noise figure at three designated frequencies of 2, 5 and 10 GHz).

TonyPlot 1D cutline feature produces a 1D plot through a section in the 2D structure.

TonyPlot can plot the Smith chart view for S-parameters analysis.

TonyPlot 3D Interactive Visualization Utility

• Produces vivid 3D visualizations for ATLAS/Device3D, DevEdit3D, and CLEVER


• Enables graphical rotation around any axis (x, y ,z), repositioning, or zoom in/out by intuitive mouse movements


• Plots surface contours for any simulated variable (e.g. net doping, potential, electric field, carrier concentrations, etc.)


• Plots isosurfaces within the 3D structure


• Materials or regions may be hidden or moved to clarify analysis


• Cut-plane feature allows a 2D cut to be defined around any axis within the structure and exported to a file or TonyPlot2D

TonyPlot 3D supports easy graphical rotation around any axis (x, y, z) repositioning or zoom in/out by intuitive mouse movements.

TonyPlot 3D allows material regions e.g. oxide to be hidden so that the interior structure may be seen.

DevEdit Structure and Mesh Editor

• Creates, edits, converts, merges, optimizes, and saves structures and meshes between process and device simulators


• Incorporates an automated mesh refinement algorithm that produces a geometry-based initial mesh with optimization based on impurity profiles or user specified criteria


• DevEdit3D converts 2D structures in 3D structures by extending region and the mesh into the third plane.

DevEdit incorporates an advanced mesh refinement algorithm.

DevEdit incorporates an advanced mesh refinement algorithm.

MaskViews Layout Editor

• Versatile IC layout editor supports standard 45 degree, 90 degree, all-angle geometry, mask drawing, and layer selection with input in GDSII and CIF formats


• Incorporates specialized layout variation experiments including shrink and misalignment


• Cross-sections can be defined and saved with all necessary mask information required by ATHENA


• Specialized custom features support SSuprem4, Optolith, ATLAS, and CLEVER


• Phase and transmittance of mask layers can be defined

MaskViews supports layout variation experiments, including shrink and misalignment.

MaskViews can generate a cutline across a section of the layout which can then be used by ATHENA for all mask process steps.

Automation Tools

The Automation Tools make it convenient to perform large-scale simulation-base design, calibration, and optimization The automation tools take care of the otherwise time-consuming, tedious and error-prone tasks of specifying experimental designs, generating and submitting the associated simulation runs, and managing the input and output data.

The Automation Tools are composed of:

• Database Manager


• Design Flow Manager


• Split Lot Manager


• Experimental Design Manger


• Network Job Controller

Database Manager

• All process, device decks and results are stored inside the database


• Archive area of database designed to be composed of process or device library objects


• Library objects include process operations, parameter device tests, IC layouts, IC layouts cutlines


• Design flow manager allows drag and drop of library objects into a new process flow


• Design flow manager allows easy creation of new process flows from an already characterized process library of individual process steps

Database Manager the archive allows particular process steps and electrical tests to be saved as individual operations in the database.

Design Flow Manager builds new process flows and device tests by drag and drop from the database archive.

Split Lot Manger

• Allows selection of process steps where a design split will occur


• Design split points may be layouts, implant parameters, diffusion parameters • Resultant split tree is visually displayed


• Each leaf of the design tree may be selected to provide information on the simulation runtime output or to plot the current structure for that particular process flow


• Allows user to submit for simulation a single leaf, groups of leaves or D-optimal queueing

Split Lot Manager shows the split lot tree where each leaf can be chosen for analysis.

Experimental Design Generator

• Shows available process steps that may be selected to perform a set of split lots on


• Each process step may be chosen independently and a DOE chosen for it


• The design of experiment (DOE) choices include

  - full factorial and partial factorial orthogonal designs

  - box Benkhen, Face Centered Cubic and Circumscribed Composite designs

  - linear random and latin hypercube designs

- gaussian random design

• Sensitivity analysis where each selected variable is varied +/- a defined percentage


• After selecting the range for the DOE the design generator will fill in the split lot tree with all the selected variations

Experimental Design Generator - The DOE for each variable is chosen from the pull down menu.

Interactive Worksheet Editor

• Displays in the worksheet the selected variations in the process parameters as well as any extracted results during the simulation such as Vt, sheet rho, oxide thickness etc.


• Additional splits may be added into the worksheet for simulation


• Selection of splits may be enabled or disabled before being simulated


• Results can be selected to be sent to the result analyzer or to be exported to SPAYN for further statistical analysis

Interactive Worksheet Editor displays all
process splits and any extracted results.

Result Analyzer

• RSM model generation


• Interactive model visualization


• Sensitivity analysis


• Process synthesis


• Multi-variant calibration

Result Analyzer From the worksheet the
data can be sent to the analyzer for plotting.

Network Job Controler

• Controls distribution of simulation jobs across the network


• Displays all machines on the network that have the VWF database installed


• Allows new machines to be added


• Shows a complete list of all jobs in the simulation queue for all displayed machines


• Shows the state of each machine to be controlled


• Machine status can be



- currently simulating a job

- waiting for a job to be sent to it

- on timeout; only allows jobs to be run between certain defined hours

- paused indefinitely

• Allows selected jobs to be canceled from the queue


• Controls number of jobs sent to a single machine at any one time (for multi-cpu machines)

Network Job Controler distributes and controls job submission to machines across a network.

Rev. 060707_11