How does the eBeam customization process support such a fast prototyping flow for NEW ASICs?
A. Direct-write Electron Beam (eBeam) technology customizes a device by writing directly on to a wafer. Using eBeam equipment eliminates the need for lithography masks. One of the biggest limitations of eBeam has been its long throughput time as each feature of every die on the wafer needs to be exposed in a serial fashion. A typical metal layer covers ~30% of the die area and therefore exposing a wafer for eBeam customization will consume 10’s of hours and entail high operating cost. But Via layers occupy only ~1% of the die area, and thus a single Via-customization as used for Nextreme devices, can be completed in a couple of hours, enduring a very low cost. eASICs NEW ASIC customization employs existing eBeam equipment without any special process requirements.
