Semiconductors

164 Semiconductors: Integrated Circuit Design for Manufacturability

signicantly than the cost of an “in situ” process solution, MfD is

often preferred over DfM (viewed as a stopgap approach rather

than the root cause x).

Because fast production ramp-up would mitigate the cost impact of the

new tool, the advantage of MfD over DfM can be signicant. One can pro-

pose RoI analysis (Table 4.1) whereby the preference ratio of MfD to CAD to

DfM can be as high as 50:25:25 depending on the estimated effort, resources,

cost of time, and hardware. CAD-based DfM would become more attractive

if MfD adds incremental processing cost per wafer (e.g., by ...