Overcoming scaling barriers through design technology CoOptimization

Abstract

Design technology co-optimization (DTCO) is the term used to describe the process of deriving a competitive technology definition out of a number of increasingly complex trade-offs. DTCO is not a specific approach or methodology, but rather a commitment to closer collaboration between designers and process engineers born out of necessity to maintain value in semiconductor scaling. This paper aims to clarify this abstract concept through a series of examples encountered in scaling a logic cell from the N14 to the N3 technology node.