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Rule nomenclature

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Rule Nomenclature

Design rules

Design rules exist as one of four options: enclosing, spacing, cutting inside, or cutting outside.

EnclosingSpacing
Enclosing requires one mask to surround another mask on all sides. Enclosing design rules typically have an associated minimum value associated with them. The enclosed mask must be at least the minimum distance from the edge of the larger mask on all sides.Spacing requires two masks to be at least a minimum distance away from each other at their closest edge.
Diagram of one mask enclosing another. The shortest distance between mask edges is highlighted as the "minimum value".Diagram of one mask spaced next to another. The shortest distance between mask edges is highlighted as the "minimum value".
Cutting insideCutting outside
Cutting inside requires two masks to overlap with one mask extending a minimum distance into the other mask's area.Cutting inside requires two masks to overlap with one mask extending a minimum distance out of the other mask's area.
Diagram of one mask partially overlapping another. The distance the masks overlap is highlighted as the "minimum value".Diagram of one mask partially overlapping another. The distance the masks do not overlap is highlighted as the "minimum value".

Light/Dark field

"Light field" and "dark field" are terms used to describe which part of a lithographic mask will be etched and which part will remain. Science assumes that light field masks show the features that will remain and dark field masks show the features that will be etched. The following tables outline whether each mask should show the features you want to remain or the holes you want to etch.

Naming conventions

Cell names should be less than 28 characters and only consist of alphanumeric characters and the underscore character. Acceptable characters:

  • ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
  • abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
  • 0123456789_