The KLayout 25D view transforms flat, abstract polygons into an intuitive physical representation of your chip design. By spending a few minutes setting up your process layer stack, you unlock the ability to catch design flaws early, optimize complex MEMS geometries, and communicate your design intent clearly to fabrication teams.
Draw a box around your cell or area of interest and render only that section rather than the entire multi-millimeter die. Conclusion
To display a 2.5D structure accurately, KLayout needs to know the physical dimensions of your process node. It needs to know how high Metal 1 sits above the silicon, and how thick it is.
: Changing the fill color or pattern in the layer list will update the "face" color of the extruded blocks in real-time. Pivot Point klayout 25d view
: You can export specific nets from the Net Tracer and visualize them in 2.5D to inspect complex routing, such as a VDD net. Visibility
Visualize air gaps, suspended membranes, waveguides, and cavities to ensure mechanical and optical clearance before sending files to the foundry.
Easily spot structural flaws, such as missing vias, misaligned contacts, or overlapping layers that look correct in 2D but fail vertically. The KLayout 25D view transforms flat, abstract polygons
Modern nodes rely on dense routing stacks. The 2.5D view allows you to visually audit your via stacks (e.g., verifying that Via 1 perfectly lands on Metal 1 and underlies Metal 2) without flipping back and forth between layer colors and visibility toggles. 2. MEMS and Photonics Verification
I can provide a customized code snippet or setup guide tailored exactly to your process. Share public link
Navigate to the top menu and select > Manage Packages . Go to the Install New Packages tab. Search for 25d-view or 3D View . Conclusion To display a 2
Let me know how you would like to proceed with configuring your ! Share public link
Review your height ( z_start ) parameters in your setup file. Ensure that Metal 2 is defined with a higher baseline than Metal 1.
KLayout, the industry-standard open-source layout viewer and editor, bridges this gap through its powerful plugin. Often referred to as a "pseudo-3D" viewer, this feature extrudes 2D mask layers into 3D space based on user-defined height and thickness profiles.
It cannot simulate actual fabrication topology (e.g., oxide thickness, rounding). Comparison: KLayout 2D vs. 2.5D Perspective Top-down (plan view) Rotatable, semi-3D Use Case Layout design, DRC editing Congestion check, stackup inspection Performance High (handles millions of shapes) Medium (limits, 100k polygons) Complexity Requires scripting/stackup setup Conclusion