From Design to Tapeout: verification for fabrication-ready PICs using Luceda IPKISS

Designing a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) involves more than achieving a functional layout—it requires ensuring that the design can be reliably manufactured. As PICs scale in complexity, the transition from concept to fabrication becomes increasingly dependent on robust design verification.

Moving from a functional layout to a fabrication-ready design requires two key tape-out steps: Design Rule Checking (DRC) and Layout vs. Schematic (LVS). These steps validate both the manufacturability and the functional integrity of your design.

In this tutorial series, you’ll learn how to leverage the IPKISS platform to take your PIC design from ideation to fabrication. Whether you’re preparing your first tape-out or looking to strengthen your design flow, these tutorials will guide you through the tools and methods required for reliable, foundry-compliant verification.

You will learn

  • How to run DRC checks by integrating IPKISS with KLayout, and how to resolve the most common violations using IPKISS’s built-in capabilities.

  • How to perform LVS verification using IPKISS Canvas to ensure your layout accurately matches the intended schematic.

Let’s explore each of these verification steps in more detail.

Design rule checks (DRC)

DRC ensures that the physical layout of your PIC adheres to the specific manufacturing constraints imposed by your target foundry. These constraints are designed to guarantee the structural integrity, yield, and performance of the fabricated device.

DRC identifies violations that could compromise manufacturability—such as minimum spacing breaches, undersized features, or problematic geometries like acute angles.

Common DRC violations include:

  • Minimum Feature Size: Ensures all features (e.g., waveguide widths, grating periods, etc.) meet the foundry’s minimum requirements.

  • Spacing Rules: Validates that there is adequate spacing between adjacent elements to prevent optical crosstalk and process errors.

  • Layer Overlaps: Checks for improper overlaps between layers (e.g., silicon core and cladding), which can affect etching or deposition.

  • Acute Angles: Flags sharp corners that may not etch cleanly, causing performance degradation or fabrication defects.

  • Snapping Errors: Identifies shapes that are misaligned with the design grid, leading to discretization artifacts during mask generation.

By integrating IPKISS with tools such as CheckMate DRC and KLayout, you can run these checks seamlessly and correct violations using guided fixes within the IPKISS environment.

Layout vs. Schematic (LVS) verification

LVS verification compares your final layout in GDSII format to the original schematic description to ensure structural and functional equivalence. This step checks that every optical and electrical component and connection in the layout matches the intended topology and connectivity defined in the schematic.

Why LVS matters

Even small mismatches—like a missing waveguide, flipped port, or unconnected component—can lead to critical issues such as light not reaching a detector, or an interferometer failing to function. As the number of components and interconnects in your PIC increases, so does the risk of such discrepancies.

Using IPKISS Canvas, you can visualize and debug mismatches interactively, ensuring that your design reflects its schematic intent before proceeding to fabrication.

With these steps, DRC and LVS, you ensure your design is robust and ready for fabrication at the foundry.

Ready to begin? Let’s dive into the hands-on process of preparing your PIC for fabrication.

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