Chip lifecycle / Product types / Metal-only spin

Metal-only spin

Silicon programme, one of the Hub's ten product types. Each type runs only the lifecycle stages and gates its kind of change needs.

What it is

Silicon programmeWork that creates or changes a die, from a new platform to a fix in the metal layers.

A correction to a released device made entirely in the metal and routing layers, with a metal-only mask set. Base layers, and often wafers held before metallisation, are reused. The feature set and part number stay the same; customers see a new die revision.

Typical triggers

An erratum with a fix that can be made in the metal layers
A timing, design rule or layout versus schematic issue found after release
A small logic change that spare cells in the design can absorb

Examples

A metal-only timing fixTwo metal layers re-routed to close a timing erratum on a released device, with no change to the transistors.
A spare-cell logic fixA functional erratum corrected by rewiring spare gates already placed in the design.

Examples are generic: they describe a kind of work, not any company's product.

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