INDUSTRY NEWS

Speed metal

Add SpeedFam-IPEC to the list of supporters of Semiconductor Research Corp.'s Copper IC Design Challenge. The vendor of CMP equipment has pledged $50,000 in prize money for the contest, which is open to students and faculty of North American universities. Karey Holland, SpeedFam-IPEC's vice president and CTO, says the contest "will serve to further promote the proliferation of copper interconnect development."

In addition to SpeedFam-IPEC and SRC, the sponsors are Novellus Systems, the manufacturer of deposition equipment and copper electroplating tools, and the UMC Group, the Taiwan-based silicon foundry. UMC will give top contestants the opportunity to use leading-edge processes, including a 0.18-µm CMOS one with six-level copper levels for interconnections. Participants are expected to use copper interconnect technology "to achieve significant functional or performance gains over the same circuit" made with aluminum, SRC says.

The industry consortium will announce the competitors at Semicon West in mid-July. In phase one, judges will choose up to 15 designs for fabrication on UMC's 0.18-µm process. The winning teams must submit their layouts by January 3 for actual processing by UMC.

The overall contest winner will be announced at Semicon West 2000. Judges will consider design criteria such as creativity, impact, and efficiency.

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