2DINESE is a two-dimensional topography simulator. It is primarily designed for use in R&D in microelectronics and related fields, as well as, as an educational tool at Universities and Research Institutes.
Its use, however, is not exclusively limited to simulations in microelectonics, and indeed it can be used to study any other problem related to surface or interface motion. Crystal growth and dissolution, for instance, is another very typical example for its use. Stretching the limits even further, 2Dinese can be a helpful tool in studying geological changes in the earth's relief as a result of weathering and erosion.
The name DINESE comes from the abbreviation DIrect Numerical Evaluation of Surface Evolution. The "2D" also stands for 2-Dimensional.
Those, who are familiar with the various "Process" simulators, such as SUPREME, are well aware that there is a serious gap in the topography simulation area - the options offered vary from elementary to poor, in contrast to the other processes such as ion implantation, thermal diffusion, oxidation, lithography, etc.
2Dinese is meant to fill in this gap and offer the user a sufficiently powerful and flexible tool for topography simulation.
Unlike most of its poor relatives, however, 2Dinese is built on a solid and widely accepted theoretical model of surface evolution (see I.V.Katardjiev et.al., Journ. Vacuum Science and Technology A, 12(1), Jan/Feb 1994, pp. 61-68 and the references therein), and uses robust numerical methods specially developed to numerically solve the equations in the theoretical model.
The most advanced and powerful features of 2Dinese are related to the simulation of a large variety of Erosion and Deposition processes, which naturally is the essence of topography simulation. Specifically, all types and combinations of Chemical Vapor Deposition, Physical Vapor Deposition, Ion Beam Etching, Reactive Ion Etching, Plasma Etching, Wet Chemical Etching, High Density Plasma Deposition and Erosion, interconnect layer formation, etc. can be simulated. In fact this list is endless, since 2Dinese is not a process specific program (see the 'To Remember' help file).
A number of other processes, namely several basic lithographic steps, chemical-mechanical polishing and material stripping are developed at a basic level and are primarily provided for completeness.
2Dinese is an open program. Look at it as a solver of a specific nonlinear partial differential equation (see the reference above). It does not implicitly or explicitly use any parameters. It only takes the user's input and calculates the evolution of the structure according to the input data. The latter normally is in the form of angular dependences of various etching or deposition processes and flux distributions. For example, in a simple erosion situation the user would be required to define the initial structure, the angular dependence of the etch rates of all relevant materials as well as the duration of the process and the program does the rest.
The interface of the program is reminiscent of the eighties, but at this stage emphasis has been put on functioning and functionality and not on appearance.
Hardware requirements:
This program does math-intensive calculations and is best run on a PowerPC, although in the majority of cases a Quadra or a fast 030 Macintosh will do fine. The program requires System 7 or later, Color QuickDraw and an FPU.
The program is generally responsive to user interaction, but if it is run on a slower computer, say 030, with a demanding process, say directional deposition with large divergence, then the responsiveness may substantially deteriorate. If in doubt, press the "Pause" button and wait for a few seconds.
The amount of RAM required varies with the size and complexity of the structure as well as the number of "Process" windows open (see the 'To Remember!' help file). A default value of 1.5 MBytes has been set quite arbitrarily and the user should set this value according to his/her needs. (Open the "Info" box from the Finder to change the size of the allocated memory).
To guide the user as to how much RAM is available the "Message" line frequently displays the available free memory.
Help is organised through a description of the menu commands. The easiest way to get started is to read the help files provided and at the same time execute the various commands as you read. Certainly, these help files are far from a complete manual but nevertheless contain a fair description of almost all 2Dinese features.
N.B. Most of the features and the commands implemented in 2Dinese are self-explanatorty. Nevertheless, the user is strongly advised to spend a little time and go through the help files, in particular "Definitions", "Process Menu" and "I/O Formats".
If you stumble onto an insurmountable obstacle, a bug or odd behaviour, do not hesitate to contact me at the address below. Since no software is insured against faults we exersize the so called "Bug Free Policy". That means that all registered users will get free bug fixes until the next version. Therefore, it is in the user's interest to report all bugs or problems with the software.
Any comments, suggestions and bug reports will be greatly appreciated!
This program has been compiled with the Symantec Project Manager 8.04.
Copyright 1996 I.V.Katardjiev. All rights reserved.
Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank my dear friends and colleagues Prof. George Carter and Dr. Mike Nobes from the University of Salford, U.K., for their invaluable contribution to the development of the theory of surface evolution and hence to the creation of this code.
My colleagues from Uppsala University, Sweden Prof. Sören Berg, Dr. H.-O. Blom and Dr. Claes Nender are greatly acknowledged for their encouragement and assistance during the development of the program.
