Silicon Foundry

Once the chip design has been completed then the silicon needs to be made. The parameters of the silicon process would already have been included in the part library used  by the chip designer. These will have formed the basis of the device simulations.

Most foundries will use a GDSII tape format as the preferred data medium. From this the silicon wafer will be fabricated.

In order to cater for low volumes, regular Multi Project Wafer (MPW) runs are co-ordinated. These allow several customers to share the expense of the Mask sets required.