IBM's Gomba: DFM is essential at 32-nm. Still, where are the tools?

Today at the SPIE Advanced Lithography conference in San Jose, IBM Distinguished Engineer and director of lithography technology development for Big Blue, George A. Gomba said, "DFM is going to be essential starting at the 32-nm node and surely is going to be an essential enabler for the 22-nm node to ensure profitability of the fab and extending the limits of optical lithography."

This is an interesting statement since the EDA industry has been saying for the past few years that it is at 65-nm or 45-nm is where DFM tools are essential. You can't really blame them - they are just trying to build a market. At the same time, there are many in the industry that say DFM tools hardly exist today. Sure, there is a lot of activity in the market, with the predicted consolidation starting to occur, but how many customers are using tools by commercial tool vendors other than Mentor, Synopsys, Cadence and Magma? I have a strong feeling the most valuable DFM tools were developed and are being used by the world's biggest semiconductor vendors even today, which quietly confirm this fact from time to time.

Also, given that in 1995, 90 percent of design was done on commercial tools; by 2005, it was down 62 percent, which possibly means that in 2010 less than 40 percent of designs will be done on commercial tools. My good friend Lou reminded me that Intel does 85 percent of design on in-house tools, therefore, I'm apt to look more and more at what IBM and other IDMs, fabs and foundries are doing, and possibly less at the commerical tool offerings. All the work is being done outside the public eye.

The IDMs, foundries and fabs of the world are the ones that are now, and will continue to, call all the shots with DFM going forward. As always, the key is hooking up with the right partner.

-Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor