Standard cell layout with regular contact placement

The practicability and methodology of applying regularly placed contacts on layout design of standard cells are studied. The regular placement enables more effective use of resolution enhancement technologies, which in turn allows for a reduction of critical dimensions. Although placing contacts on a grid adds restrictions during cell layout, overall circuit area can be made smaller by a careful selection of the grid pitch, allowing slight contact offset, applying double exposure, and shrinking the minimum size and pitch. The contact level of 250 nm standard cells was shrunk by 10%, resulting in an area change ranging from -20% to +25% with an average decrease of 5% for the 84 cells studied. The areas of two circuits, a finite-impulse-response (FIR) filter and an add-compare-select (ACS) unit in the Viterbi decoder, decrease by 4% and 2%, respectively.published_or_final_versio

Edge Extraction Based on Aperture Synthesis in Optical Scanning Holography

Poster Session (DW2A): no. DW2A.6We present an edge extraction method based on aperture synthesis with different pupils in optical scanning holography. By utilizing two sub-holograms covering different spatial frequency ranges of the object, sharp edges can be extracted successfully. © 2015 OSApostprin

New impulse (noncausality) test for descriptor systems by Mobius-transformation

Descriptor systems (DSs) are usually used to model very-large-scale integration (VLSI) circuit systems and multibody dynamics macromodeling. The analysis of DSs, however, is much more complicated than linear time-invariant (LTI) systems due to the poles at infinity. Mȯbius transformation (MT) provides a way to transform poles at infinity to finite poles and largely facilitates the reuse or adaptation of the standard techniques for LTI system to analyze DSs. Nonetheless, MT is well known in the literature and its potential use is currently less appreciated in the analysis of DSs. This paper gives a new way to the impulse (noncausality) test using the properties of the transformed LTI systems by MT. Moreover, the applications to the analysis of controllability, observability and regularity are given. Numerical examples are included to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2012 Chinese Assoc of Automati.published_or_final_versio

Performance optimization for gridded-layout standard cells

The grid placement of contacts and gates enables more effective use of resolution enhancement techniques, which in turn allow a reduction of critical dimensions. Although the regular placement adds restrictions during cell layout, the overall circuit area can be made smaller and the extra manufacturing cost can be kept to the lowest by a careful selection of the grid pitch, using template-trim lithography method, allowing random contact placement in the vertical direction, and using rectangular rather than square contacts. The purpose of this work is to optimize the gridded-layout-based process. The trade-off between the layout area and manufacturing cost, and the determination of the minimum grid pitch are discussed in this paper. We demonstrate that it is a 1-D scaling instead of the conventional 2-D scaling for standard cells and the narrow MOSFETs inside after the application of the gridded layout on the contact and gate levels. The corresponding effects on circuit performances, including the leakage current, are also explored.published_or_final_versio

Standard cell design with resolution-enhancement-technique-driven regularly placed contacts and gates

The practicability and methodology of applying resolution-enhancement- technique-driven regularly placed contacts and gates on standard cell layout design are studied. The regular placement enables more effective use of resolution enhancement techniques (RETs), which in turn enables a reduction of critical dimensions. Although regular placement of contacts and gates adds restrictions during cell layout, the over-all circuit area can be made smaller and the number of extra masks and exposures can be kept to the lowest by careful selection of the grid pitch, using template-trim chromeless phase-shifting lithography approaches, enabling unrestricted contact placement in one direction, and using rectangular rather than square contacts. Four different fabrication-friendly layouts are compared. The average area change of 64 standard cells in a 130-nm library range from -4.2 to -15.8% with the four fabricationfriendly layout approaches. The area change of five test circuits using the four approaches range from -16.2 to +2.6%. Dynamic power consumption and intrinsic delay also improve with the decrease in circuits area, which is verified with the examination results. © 2005 Society of Pnoto-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.published_or_final_versio

Three-dimensional reconstruction of wafer solder bumps using binary pattern projection

As the electronic industry advances rapidly, the shrunk dimension of the device leads to more stringent requirement on process control and quality assurance. For instance, the tiny size of the solder bumps grown on wafers for direct die-to-die bonding pose great challenge to the inspection of the bumps' 3D quality. Traditional pattern projection method of recovering 3D is about projecting a light pattern to the inspected surface and imaging the illuminated surface from one or more points of view. However, image saturation and the specular nature of the bump surface are issues. This paper proposes a new 3D reconstruction mechanism for inspecting the surface of such wafer bumps. It is still based upon the light pattern projection framework, but uses the Ronchi pattern - a pattern that contrasts with the traditionally used gray level one. With the use of a parallel or point light source in combination with a binary grating, it allows a discrete pattern to be projected onto the inspected surface. As the projected pattern is binary, the image information is binary as well. With such a bright-or-dark world for each image position, the above-mentioned difficult issues are avoided. Preliminary study shows that the mechanism holds promises that existing approaches do not. © 2005 SPIE and IS&T.published_or_final_versio

Structured-light based sensing using a single fixed fringe grating: Fringe boundary detection and 3-D reconstruction

Advanced electronic manufacturing requires the 3-D inspection of very small surfaces like the solder bumps on wafers for direct die-to-die bonding. Yet the microscopic size and highly specular and textureless nature of the surfaces make the task difficult. It is also demanded that the size of the entire inspection system be small so as to minimize restraint on the operation of the various moving parts involved in the manufacturing process. In this paper, we describe a new 3-D reconstruction mechanism for the task. The mechanism is based upon the well-known concept of structured-light projection, but adapted to a new configuration that owns a particularly small system size and operates in a different manner. Unlike the traditional mechanisms which involve an array of light sources that occupy a rather extended physical space, the proposed mechanism consists of only a single light source plus a binary grating for projecting binary pattern. To allow the projection at each position of the inspected surface to vary and form distinct binary code, the binary grating is shifted in space. In every shift, a separate image of the illuminated surface is taken. With the use of pattern projection, and of discrete coding instead of analog coding in the projection, issues like texture-absence, image saturation, and image noise of the inspected surfaces are much lessened. Experimental results on a variety of objects are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of this mechanism. © 2008 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Projection optics design for tilted projection of fringe patterns

A challenge in the semiconductor industry is 3-D inspection of the miniaturized solder bumps grown on wafers for direct die-to-die bonding. An inspection mechanism proposed earlier requires the projection of a binary fringe grating to the inspected surface from an inclined angle. For high speed and accuracy of the mechanism, the projection optics has to meet these requirements: (1) it allows a tilt angle between the inspected surface and the projector's optical axis; (2) it has a high bandwidth to let high-spatial-frequency harmonics contained in the binary grating pass through the lens and be projected onto the inspected surface properly; (3) it has a high modulation transfer function; (4) it has a large field of view; and (5) it has an adequate depth of field that matches the depth range of the inspected surface. In this paper, we describe a projection optics design, consisting of a fringe grating and several pieces of spherical lens, that addresses the requirements. To reduce the lens aberrations, the grating is laid out with an angle chosen specifically to make the grating, the lens, and the average plane of the inspected surface intersect in the same line. Performance analysis and tolerance analysis are shown to demonstrate the feasibility of the design. © 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.published_or_final_versio

How do MNEs invent? An invention-based perspective of MNE profitability

Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Although MNEs create inventions both internally and collaboratively with partners as well as within and across countries, we know very little about the effects that combining such inventive activities have on their profitability. This study develops an invention-based perspective that considers how MNEs' profitability is influenced by the ways they organize the development of inventions across organizational boundaries (internally or collaboratively) and geographic boundaries (within or across countries). This perspective postulates that profitability is not merely driven by advantageous technological endowments but also by how such technological assets have been created. Accordingly, it explains why specific combinations of inventive activities across the two boundaries affect the likelihood of creating breakthrough inventions differently, provide different revenue and cost advantages, and have different effects on MNEs’ profitability. It further explains why cross-country inventions contribute more to profitability when they are internalized, while within-country inventions are more profitable when they are created collaboratively. - Résumé: Bien que les entreprises multinationales (Multinational Enterprises – MNEs) créent, aux échelles transfrontalière et nationale, des inventions à la fois en interne et en collaboration avec des partenaires, nous en savons très peu sur les impacts de la combinaison de telles activités inventives sur leur rentabilité. Cette recherche développe une perspective fondée sur les inventions laquelle examine comment la rentabilité des MNEs est influencée par les manières dont elles organisent le développement des inventions à travers les frontières organisationnelles (internes ou collaboratives) et géographiques (à l'intérieur ou entre des pays). Cette perspective postule que la rentabilité n'est pas seulement façonnée par des facultés technologiques avantageuses, mais aussi par la manière dont ces actifs technologiques ont été créés. Par conséquent, cela explique pourquoi les combinaisons spécifiques des activités inventives à travers les deux frontières influencent différemment la probabilité de créer des inventions disruptives, apportent différents avantages en matière de revenus et de coûts, et exercent divers impacts sur la rentabilité des MNEs. Cela explique en outre pourquoi les inventions transfrontières contribuent davantage à la rentabilité lorsqu'elles sont internalisées, tandis que les inventions au sein d’un pays sont plus rentables lorsqu'elles sont créées en collaboration. - Resumen: A pesar las empresas multinacionales crean invenciones tanto interna como en colaboración con socios, así como dentro y entre los países, sabemos muy poco sobre los efectos que la combinación de tales actividades inventivas tiene en su rentabilidad. Este estudio desarrolla una perspectiva basada en la invención que considera cómo la rentabilidad de las empresas multinacionales está influenciada por las formas en que organizan el desarrollo de las invenciones a través de los limites organizacionales (interna o colaborativamente) y los limites geográficos (dentro o entre países). Esta perspectiva postula que la rentabilidad no está impulsada simplemente por legados tecnológicos ventajosos, sino también por la forma en que se han creado dichos activos tecnológicos. Por ende, explica por qué las combinaciones específicas de actividades inventivas a través de los dos límites afectan de manera diferente la probabilidad de crear invenciones novedosas, proporcionan diferentes ventajas de ingresos y costos, y tienen diferentes efectos en la rentabilidad de las empresas multinacionales. Explica además por qué las invenciones entre países contribuyen más a la rentabilidad cuando son internalizadas, mientras que las invenciones dentro del país son más rentables cuando se crean en colaboración. - Resumo: Embora MNEs criem invenções tanto interna quanto colaborativamente com parceiros, bem como dentro e entre países, sabemos muito pouco sobre os efeitos que a combinação de tais atividades inventivas tem em sua lucratividade. Este estudo desenvolve uma perspectiva baseada em invenções que considera como a lucratividade de MNEs é influenciada pelas formas como organizam o desenvolvimento de invenções além de fronteiras organizacionais (internamente ou colaborativamente) e geográficas (dentro ou entre países). Essa perspectiva postula que lucratividade não é apenas impulsionada por dotações tecnológicas vantajosas, mas também por como esses ativos tecnológicos foram criados. Consequentemente, isso explica por que específicas combinações de atividades inventivas através das duas fronteiras afetam de forma distinta a probabilidade de criar invenções revolucionárias, fornecem receitas e vantagens de custo diferentes e têm efeitos diferentes na lucratividade de MNEs. Ela também explica por que invenções entre países contribuem mais para a lucratividade quando são internalizadas, enquanto invenções dentro do país são mais lucrativas quando são criadas de forma colaborativa. - 摘要 虽然跨国公司(MNE)同时在内部和通过与伙伴合作在国内和跨国创造发明, 但我们对此类发明活动的结合对其盈利率的影响知之甚少。本研究提出了一个基于发明的视角, 该视角考虑了MNE的盈利率如何受到它们跨越组织边界 ( (内部或协作) 和地理边界 ( 国内或跨国 ) 织发明开发的方式的影响。这一视角假定盈利率不仅受有利的技术禀赋的驱动, 而且还受这些技术资产的创造方式的驱动。因此, 它解释了为什么跨越两个边界的发明活动的特定组合对创造突破性发明的可能性产生不同的影响, 提供不同的收入和成本优势, 并对MNE的盈利率产生不同的影响。它还进一步解释了为什么跨国发明在内部化时对盈利率的贡献更大, 而国内发明在合作创造时更有利

Effect of Multi-gating System on Solidification of Molten Metals in Spur Gear Casting: A Simulation Approach

Casting process is widely used in preparing spur gear blanks or in complete production of gears because of its less defect at the end of the process. The importance of the gating system in casting process lies in its ability to channel molten metal into the mould cavity within the allowable period at a controlled parameter. The study therefore investigated the effect of increasing the gating system on the solidification of molten metal during gear cast to determine the time of solidification and casting productivity. Both the top and bottom gating system were modelled in solidwork, while the simulation was done using Pro-Cast. The result revealed that for the case of two runner gating system, both the top and bottom gating system took 9.195 and 9.320 s respectively, to fill the mould cavity. However, the three-runner gating system took a shorter filling time with top gating system having 8.824 s filling time and the bottom gating system took about 9.655 s to fill the mould cavity. The outcome showed that the top gating system tends to discharge molten metal faster than the bottom gating system as seen from the filling time of both the two and the three-gating system