Adjoint-based particle defect yield modeling

Silicon photonics, where photons instead of electrons are manipulated, shows promise for higher data rates, lower energy communication and information processing, biomedical sensing, and novel optically based applications such as wavefront engineering and beam steering of light. However, silicon photonics does not yet have mature process, device, and circuit variation models for the existing IC and photonic process steps; this lack presents a key challenge for design in this emerging industry. This thesis addresses analysis of the process variation impact of particle defects. Such particle defects can arise in photolithography, deposition, etch, and other processes, and can perturb the intended function of photonic devices and circuits. The adjoint method previously used in optimization is modified and implemented to facilitate the simulation of the impact of defects in silicon photonic devices. More specifically, we demonstrate the methodology to build both component-level and circuit-level models based on the adjoint method. For the component-level models, we show how S-parameters of the device components are impacted by different types of particle defects. For the circuit-level models, we show the impact on circuit output spectrum and performance features based on component-level models, and perform critical area extraction for yield estimation. The model and result will be used to help generate layout design rules, predicting, and optimizing yield of complex silicon photonic devices and circuits for tomorrow's silicon photonics designers.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Zhengxing(Electrical engineer and computer scientist)Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Duane S. Boning.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122738

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122738