What’s ITF:

ITF stands for Interconnect Technology File.
It contains a description of the process cross-section and connectivity section.
It describes the thicknesses and physical attributes of the conductor and dielectric layers.
It used to extract RC value for the chip.
It can be used to generate TLU TLUPlus files.

What ITF file contain:

ITF contains statements to describe conductor layers, dielectric layers, via layers and etc.

CONDUCTOR statement:

Syntax:

CONDUCTOR { THICKNESS=value
WMIN=value
SMIN=value }

Descriptions:

THICKNESS: measured from top of the dielectric layer below it
WMIN: Minimum width of the conductor
SMIN: Minimum spacing between two conductors
RPSQ: Sheet resistance, units: ohms/sq

DIELECTRIC statement:

Syntax:

DIELECTRIC { THICKNESS=value ER=value
[MEASURED_FROM ]
[SW_T=value]
[TW_T=value ] }

Descriptions:

THICKNESS:

Measured from top of the dielectric layer below it by default
Reference can be changed using MEASURED_FROM

MEASURED_FROM:

Reference can be set to top of any other lower dielectric layer

TOP_OF_CHIP denotes the top surface of the process stack that has already been defined
ER: Dielectric constant of the layer
SW_T & TW_T:
Used for MEASURED_FROM=TOP_OF_CHIP

VIA statement:

Syntax:

VIA { FROM=value TO=value
RHO=value | RPV=value
AREA=value }

Descriptions:

RHO: Resistivity, units: ohms-micron
RPV: Resistance per default via, units: ohms
AREA: Area of default via, units: square-microns

ITF file also contain following data:

conformal dielectrics ( MEASURED_FROM=TOP_OF_CHIP)
Emulation metal fill (FILL_TYPE, FILL_WIDTH, FILL_SPACING, FILL_RATIO)
Drop factor (DROP_FACTOR)
Etch (ETCH)
Width and spacing based etch (ETCH_VS_WIDTH_AND_SPACING)
Density based thickness (THICKNESS_VS_DENSITY)
Width dependent RPSQ (RPSQ_VS_SI_WIDTH)
Temperature derating (CRT1, CRT2)

ITF file example:

TECHNOLOGY=nx
DIELECTRIC SIN { THICKNESS=2.25 ER=7.5 }
DIELECTRIC ILD4 { THICKNESS=0.8 ER=4.1 }
CONDUCTOR M3 { THICKNESS=0.8 WMIN=0.6 SMIN=0.5 RPSQ=0.66 }
DIELECTRIC ILD3 { THICKNESS=1.7 ER=4.1 }
CONDUCTOR M2 { THICKNESS=0.7 WMIN=0.6 SMIN=0.5 RPSQ=0.66 }
DIELECTRIC ILD2 { THICKNESS=1.8 ER=4.1 }
CONDUCTOR M1 { THICKNESS=0.8 WMIN=0.5 SMIN=0.45 RPSQ=0.33 }
DIELECTRIC ILD1 { THICKNESS=1.2 ER=3.9 }
CONDUCTOR POLY { THICKNESS=0.3 WMIN=0.35 SMIN=0.45 RPSQ=21 }
DIELECTRIC FOX { THICKNESS=0.3 ER=3.9 }
VIA POLYCONT {FROM = M1 TO = POLY AREA=0.25 RPV=5}
VIA VIA1 { FROM = M2 TO = M1 AREA = 0.36 RPV = 4}
VIA VIA2 { FROM = M3 TO = M2 AREA = 0.36 RPV = 4}