Design enablement
EDA tools support design and verification. Process design kits describe manufacturing rules; reusable IP supplies building blocks. Compatibility needs confirmation for the intended process.
TECHNOLOGY
From an idea
to a working system.
A practical guide to the major stages of the semiconductor value chain, and the questions that connect them.
Design & verifyFabricate & measurePackage & testIntegrate in systems
Simplified overview. Manufacturing contains repeated cycles and feedback; these are not four isolated handoffs.
01 / DESIGN
Define the job before the chip.
Start with the workload, power envelope, interfaces and expected production volume. Architecture choices shape the requirements for design tools, reusable intellectual property and manufacturing processes.
Questions to resolve
- Which functions should share a die?
- Which interfaces and memory bandwidth are required?
- What must be qualified before tape-out?
02 / MANUFACTURING
Build, pattern, measure. Repeat.
Thin-film deposition adds materials. A light-sensitive resist and lithography define patterns. Development and etch transfer them; implantation can alter electrical properties. Cleaning and measurement help control the result across repeated layers.
Process control
Metrology measures dimensions and alignment. Inspection finds defects. Results feed back into process settings; equipment performance is only one part of the yield picture.
A process is more than a node name
Assess power, performance, density, reliability, design readiness and cost together. A node label alone is not a complete comparison between suppliers.
03 / PACKAGING
The system extends beyond the die.
Packaging connects dies to each other and to a board. Chiplets and 3D integration can place different functions close together, but introduce their own thermal, interconnect, test and reliability constraints.
Plan interfaces early
Substrate routing, die-to-die links, memory placement and cooling must fit the intended system. Packaging is a design consideration from the beginning.
Count the complete cost
The wafer planner covers an illustrative fabrication cost per good die. Packaging, test, design engineering, masks and assembly losses need additional estimates.