IC Layout Designer
Posted on 9/14/2023
Science
Locations
Alameda, CA, USA
Experience Level
Entry
Junior
Mid
Senior
Expert
Desired Skills
Python
CategoriesNew
Software Engineering
Requirements
  • 2+ years of industrial experience on the layout design and physical implementation of analog and mixed-signal CMOS IPs from specification to GDS
  • Solid understanding of CMOS analog and digital circuits at transistor level is a must
  • Solid understanding of digital CMOS VLSI design is required
  • Experience in mixed-signal CMOS technologies (180nm or finer geometries) in terms of schematic and layout design is required
  • Experience in industry standard commercial IC Layout Editors is required
  • Experience in industry standard commercial DRC/LVS/Extraction tools is required
Responsibilities
  • Design the layout of analog, digital, and mixed-signal IP blocks. Work closely with the circuit designers to identify layout constraints and identify critical and sensitive active and passive devices in the schematics / netlist
  • Define the floor plan of the circuit in terms of device placement, power, and signal routing. For analog and mixed-signal blocks, you will be asked to do manual placement and routing of the block to achieve compactness
  • Perform detailed physical checks, including Design Rule Checks (DRCs) for regular core, full-chip, antenna, and density rules, using industry standard tools
  • Perform Layout-versus-Schematics (LVS) checks on the layouts using industry standard tools. Follow a systematic approach to debug connectivity and routing issues, to be able to debug and solve LVS issues efficiently at IP and full-chip levels
  • Perform parasitics extraction on layouts. Report extracted parasitics in an efficient way, and discuss with circuit designers if a layout iteration will be needed or not
  • Create extracted views for the layouts to be used for post-layout simulations and verifications. In most of the cases, it will be preferred if you could run quick extracted circuit simulations to be able to close on the layout constraints quickly
  • Develop electrical models for the power/ground grid and signal busses using PDK materials to perform IR drop and signal integrity analyses at IP and full-chip level
  • Automate repeated layout tasks using scripting and programming languages, such as skill or python
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience in Cadence IC Design Tools, such as Virtuoso Schematic and Layout Editors, PVS DRC/LVS, Quantus Extraction, Spectre Circuit Simulator is preferred
  • Experience in Calibre DRC/LVS/Extraction tools from Siemens is preferred
  • Experience in open-source IC design, simulation, and physical verification tools and flows is preferred
  • Good command of programming / scripting languages such as skill or python to automate repeated layout and schematic tasks is a plus
  • Having a track record of successful layout IP creation that entered into fabricated chips is a big plus