Mastering AI Chip Complexity
Explore challenges and solutions in AI chip development
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Overview
Multibeam Corporation, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a key player in the semiconductor industry. Founded by Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Famer Dr. David K. Lam, the company has developed the first high-resolution and high-productivity e-beam lithography system with direct write capability for fab production. Their Multicolumn Electron Beam Lithography (MEBL) Systems, integrated with Synopsys CATS data preparation software, streamline the path from chip design to production, offering a faster and more efficient solution for chipmakers.
"Multibeam and Synopsys have similar visions of where the industry is going, and together we can accelerate the cycles of innovation."
Dr. David K. Lam
|Chairman & CEO of Multibeam
"One of Synopsys' goals is to make it much easier and quicker for chip designers to bring their products to market with fewer mistakes and fewer cycles, and that's one of the key benefits of our technology as well."
Dr. Ken MacWilliams
|President of Multibeam
"Together with Synopsys, we are enabling chip designers and chip manufacturers to bring new ideas to life, faster and more efficiently."
Dr. Ken MacWilliams
|President of Multibeam
Challenges
Multibeam faced several significant challenges in their quest to revolutionize chip production.
- Long Cycle Times: Traditional mask-based lithography required lengthy cycles to produce complex masks, delaying time to market.
- High Costs: The evolution of mask-based lithography was becoming exponentially more expensive, impacting profitability.
- Limited Flexibility: Traditional lithography did not support rapid design changes, slowing down innovation and iteration processes.
Solution
Multibeam's maskless e-beam lithography system, integrated with Synopsys CATS software, addresses these challenges by:
- High-Resolution and High-Productivity: Enabling direct-write capability on wafers, eliminating the need for masks.
- Rapid Cycles of Learning: Allowing for immediate design changes and wafer-scale experiments, facilitating faster design iteration and validation.
- Advanced Integration: Supporting next-generation interposers for higher chip-to-chip bandwidth and lower energy per bit transfer, crucial for AI chips.
Results
With the integration of Synopsys CATS software, Multibeam achieved significant results:
- First System Shipment: The first MEBL system with Synopsys inside is set to ship this spring.
- Faster Time-to-Market: Enabling chipmakers to rapidly explore new design variations and bring products to market faster.
- Enhanced Yield and Efficiency: Providing chip designers and manufacturers with the tools to produce higher performance chips at a faster pace.
- Ongoing Collaboration: Multibeam continues to develop and enhance its technologies in collaboration with Synopsys, driving advances in lithography.
With this collaboration, Synopsys and Multibeam are poised to revolutionize the semiconductor manufacturing process, offering innovative solutions that meet the demands of today's compute-intensive applications.
