1. A method for interconnecting a plurality of dies, comprising the steps of:
(A) receiving a plurality of interconnect requirements for said plurality of dies, said plurality of interconnect requirements comprising (i) a priority order for each of a plurality of nets and (ii) at least one delay from a group of delays consisting of a shortest possible delay, a maximum delay, a range of delays, and a ratsnest delay;
(B) calculating a position and an angle for one of said plurality of dies relative to a substrate mounting of said plurality of dies in response to said plurality of interconnect requirements; and
(C) routing said plurality of nets among said plurality of dies and a plurality of substrate pads on said substrate, said plurality of substrate pads defining external connections.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (C) further comprises the sub-step of routing said plurality of nets one at a time in descending order of said priority order.
3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of rotating one of said plurality of dies in response to a target net of said plurality of nets having a shortest possible length requirement of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of moving one of said plurality of dies in response to a target net of said plurality of nets having a shortest possible length requirement of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of rotating one of said plurality of dies in response to a target net of said plurality of nets failing to meet at least one of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of moving one of said plurality of dies in response to said a target net of said plurality of nets failing to meet at least one of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a trace group comprises routing together at least two nets of said plurality of nets.
8. A method for interconnecting a plurality of dies, comprising the steps of:
(A) receiving a plurality of interconnect requirements for said plurality of dies, said plurality of interconnect requirements comprising a priority order for each of a plurality of nets;
(B) calculating a position and an angle for one of said plurality of dies relative to a substrate mounting of said plurality of dies in response to said plurality of interconnect requirements; and
(C) routing said plurality of nets among said plurality of dies and a plurality of substrate pads on said substrate, said plurality of substrate pads defining external connections, wherein (i) a trace group comprises routine together at least two nets of said plurality of nets and (ii) said plurality of interconnect requirements further comprise a maximum delay variation among said at least two nets of said trace group.
9. A storage medium for use in a computer for interconnecting a plurality of dies, the storage medium recording a computer program that is readable and executable by the computer, the computer program comprising the steps of:
(A) receiving a plurality of interconnect requirements for said plurality of dies;
(B) calculating a position and an angle for one of said plurality of dies relative to a substrate mounting said plurality of dies in response to said plurality of interconnect requirements; and
(C) routing a plurality of nets among said plurality of dies and a plurality of substrate pads on said substrate, said plurality of substrate pads defining external connections, wherein i) a trace group comprises routing together at least two nets of said plurality of nets and (ii) said plurality of interconnect requirements comprise a maximum delay variation among said at least two nets of said trace group.
10. The storage medium according to claim 9, wherein said plurality of interconnect requirements further comprise a priority order for each of said plurality of nets.
11. The storage medium according to claim 10, wherein step (C) further comprises the sub-step of routing said plurality of nets one at a time in descending order of said priority order.
12. The storage medium according to claim 11, further comprising the step of rotating one of said plurality of dies in response to a target net of said plurality of nets having a shortest possible length requirement of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
13. The storage medium according to claim 11, further comprising the step of moving one of said plurality of dies in response to a target net of said plurality of nets having a shortest possible length requirement of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
14. The storage medium according to claim 9, further comprising the step of rotating one of said plurality of dies in response to a target net of said plurality of nets failing to meet at least one of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
15. The storage medium according to claim 9, further comprising the step of moving one of said plurality of dies in response to said a target net of said plurality of nets failing to meet at least one of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
16. An apparatus comprising:
means for receiving a plurality of interconnect requirements for a plurality of dies, said plurality of interconnect requirements comprising (i) a priority order for each of a plurality of nets and (ii) at least one delay from a group of delays consisting of a shortest possible delay, a maximum delay, a range of delays, and a ratsnest delay;
means for calculating a position and an angle for one of said plurality of dies relative to a substrate mounting of said plurality of dies in response to said plurality of interconnect requirements; and
means for routing said plurality of nets among said plurality of dies and a plurality of substrate pads on said substrate, said plurality of substrate pads defining external connections.
17. A method for interconnecting a plurality of dies, comprising the steps of:
(A) receiving a plurality of interconnect requirements for said plurality of dies, said Plurality of interconnect requirements comprising at least one delay from a group of delays consisting of a shortest possible delay, a maximum delay, a range of delay, and a ratsnest delay;
(B) calculating a position and an angle for one of said plurality of dies relative to a substrate mounting of said plurality of dies in response to said plurality of interconnect requirements;
(C) routing a plurality of nets among said plurality of dies and a plurality of substrate pads on said substrate, said plurality of substrate pads defining external connections; and
(D) rotating one of said plurality of dies in response to a target net of said plurality of nets failing to meet at least one of said plurality of interconnect requirements.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said plurality of interconnect requirements further comprise a priority order for each of said plurality of nets.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of securing a micro-object to a substrate, the method comprising steps of:
placing the micro-object on the substrate; and
subjecting a target area of the substrate adjacent the micro-object to an ion beam for removing material from the target area, some removed material from the target area redepositing over the micro-object and the substrate to attach the micro-object to the substrate.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein, the ion beam is a focused ion beam (FIB).
3. The method of claim 2 wherein, the FIB is rastered over the target area in successive steps, the FIB including a current and a dwell time for each step, the current and dwell time being pre-determined in accordance with material properties of the substrate and with physical characteristics of the micro-object.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein, the FIB rasters the target area starting at a position of the target area closest to the micro-object and ending at another position of the target area furthest from the micro-object.
5. The method of claim 3 wherein, the dwell time for each step is at least 50 \u03bcs.
6. The method of claim 3 wherein, the target area is rastered in a series of lines, a distance between dwell points in a given line being different from a spacing between consecutive lines.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein, the micro-object is a volume of an electron microscopy specimen produced by nanomachining.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein, the micro-object is an electron microscopy specimen.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein, the micro-object is a specimen taken from a semiconductor wafer.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein, the micro-object is a micro-electromechanical device.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein, the micro-object is a biological specimen.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein, the step of subjecting a target area of the substrate adjacent the micro-object to an ion beam to remove material from the target area, is repeated for at least one more target area.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein, the substrate is one of a conductive and a semiconductive substrate.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein, the substrate includes a metal.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein, the substrate includes boron.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein, the substrate includes boron carbide.
17. The method of claim 13 wherein, the substrate includes silicon.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein, the substrate includes an electrically conductive area and an insulator area, the micro-object being placed at least partly on the electrically conductive area, and the target area includes at least partly the insulator area.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein, the step of placing the micro-object on the substrate is followed by a step of holding the micro-object on the substrate, and the step of subjecting a target area of the substrate adjacent the micro-object to an ion beam is followed by a step of releasing the micro-object.
20. A method of preparing a transmission electron microscopy specimen, the method comprising steps of:
placing the specimen on a substrate;
subjecting a target area of the substrate adjacent the specimen to an ion beam for removing material from the target area, some removed material from the target area redepositing over the specimen and the substrate to the specimen to the substrate; and
subjecting the specimen to the ion beam to remove material obscuring a region of interest of the specimen.
21. The method of claim 20 wherein, the step of subjecting the specimen to an ion beam includes thinning the specimen to electron transparency.