Development of a Predictive Process Design kit for15-nm FinFETs: FreePDK15

FinFETs are predicted to advance semiconductorscaling for sub-20nm devices. In order to support their intro-duction into research and universities it is crucial to develop anopen source predictive process design kit. This paper discussesin detail the design process for such a kit for 15nm FinFETdevices, called the FreePDK15. The kit consists of a layerstack with thirteen-metal layers based on hierarchical-scalingused in ASIC architecture, Middle-of-Line local interconnectlayers and a set of Front-End-of-Line layers. The physical andgeometrical properties of these layers are defined and theseproperties determine the density and parasitics of the design. Thedesign rules are laid down considering additional guidelines forprocess variability, challenges involved in FinFET fabrication anda unique set of design rules are developed for critical dimensions.Layout extraction including modified rules for determining thegeometrical characteristics of FinFET layouts are implementedand discussed to obtain successful Layout Versus Schematicchecks for a set of layouts. Moreover, additional parasiticcomponents of a standard FinFET device are analyzed andthe parasitic extraction of sample layouts is performed. Theseextraction results are then compared and assessed against thevalidation models.