A 3D Process Design Kit generator based on customizable 3D layout design environment

3D integration provides different technological approaches as new opportunities for design and architecture alternatives. Circuit integration can now be achieved by using various interconnection concepts such as Through Silicon Vias (TSV last), ReDistribution Layer (RDL), pillars, bumps and micro-bumps. The key challenge from the design kit point of view is now to make all these concepts accessible and easy to use for 3D IC design benchmarking, leading to a generic 3D platform offering various interconnection options for the end-user with on-demand customization of the 3D layout environment. The first section of this paper will give an overview of the LETI 3D technological offer through the Open 3D™ platform and present the context in terms of Process Design Kit (PDK) development. Second section will describe the approach and the proposed solution through a configurable PDK, a PDK generator software and the associated user-friendly interface. Finally, last section will focus on the 3D layout environment and methodology used to design a 3D demonstrator with some examples.