StepVu reads a stepper control file and converts the instructions into a layout display showing where the various images are placed on the wafer. A mask engineer who is responsible for creating the stepping recipe can use this program to quickly verify that his window selections and stepping instructions are correct.

The simple version of StepVU reads only the stepper control file which means it can only display the outline of each item exposed onto the wafer (since the control file only defines the extents and placement coordinates.) However a new mode for StepVU is under development that can obtain bitmaps for the various images from a MEBES viewing software that has been loaded with the MEBES job deck for the reticle.

1. Cell Placement - view the "cell" placements with labels to verify which cells have been placed.
   
   
2. Image Placement - Each cell contains one or more images. View the image outlines as defined by the stepper control file. Each image outline is labeled with its name.
   
   
3. Image in Cell - drop down into the Cell list and view each cell individually to see which images are placed in it and where they are placed.
   
   
4. Measure - Zoom and Pan as needed. Zoom in to measure overlap between images placements.

The stepper control file has no information about the actual data that is contained on the reticle -- it only know the location and window that should be opened. To acutally see the data on the wafer one must have access to the data used to produce the reticle.

Most reticles have been produced from a MEBES job deck and associated MEBES files. Displaying a MEBES file is not a simple task as the amount of data can be tremendous - hundreds of MB or even several GBs for modern reticles.

StepVu can communicate with Artwork's second generation MEBES viewer (MBSVU) and can request a bitmap of each "window" defined in the stepper control file. StepVu then takes this bitmap and places it into the outline of each image. In this fashion a mask engineer can actually see the data from the reticle stepped.

The mask engineer can only see the outlines of images referenced in the stepper instructions. The data internal to the outlines must be obtained from the MEBES files used to produce the reticle.

In reticle bitmap mode one does not have infinite resolution. As the engineer zooms in, the bitmaps used to represent the data become more and more "chunky." It is possible to ask for higher resolution bitmaps but this should only be done for smaller images as the files will get so large that performance lags.