Current Arpelier capabilities

Process-flow editing

Create, order, group, modify, and ignore process steps while keeping each step connected to its structural result. Step-specific controls cover materials, masks, thickness, profiles, and other available geometric or process conditions. Changing an earlier step recalculates affected downstream structures.

Supported process types

The public editor currently offers the following process types. Individual options vary by process, and the geometric model is intentionally bounded rather than a representation of every equipment or material behavior.

SUBSTRATE

Creates the substrate that serves as the starting structure for the process flow.

• Parameters: substrate type and thickness

DEPOSITION

Deposits a selected material over the current structure, optionally within a mask-defined area.

• Parameters: material, mask, and thickness
• Detailed parameters: conformality

ALD

Builds an atomic-layer-deposition film and can model uniform or nucleation-based surface growth.

• Parameters: material, seed material, and thickness
• Detailed parameters: 3D isotropic analysis, growth model, surface roughness, roughness seed, initial nucleation coverage, additional nucleation rate, initial nucleus size, and cycle growth

SPIN COATING

Coats the structure with a selected material to form a spin-coated layer.

• Parameters: material and thickness

PARTICLE

Places particles on the structure with configurable size, material, and incident-angle behavior.

• Parameters: particle materials, seed materials, particle count, and particle diameter
• Detailed parameters: diameter variation, contact angle, angular spread, angular exponent, trajectory display, and random seed

ETCH

Removes selected materials to a specified depth, optionally using a mask and directional profile.

• Parameters: etched materials, mask, and depth
• Detailed parameters: positive profile and bowing ratio

WET ETCH

Removes selected materials with the wet-etch geometry model.

• Parameters: etched materials, depth, and seam threshold

CMP

Planarizes the top surface to a target level and can stop at a selected material.

• Parameters: target thickness and stopper material
• Detailed parameters: dishing target materials and dishing amount

STRIP

Removes the selected material from the current structure.

• Parameters: material to strip

PHOTO

Creates a mask-defined photo pattern and can include simplified optical and OPC effects.

• Parameters: mask and thickness
• Detailed parameters: optical effects, wavelength, numerical aperture, exposure threshold, and corner/edge correction

IMPLANTATION

Adds a doped region with configurable implantation depth and diffusion behavior.

• Parameters: doping type, mask, and seed thickness
• Detailed parameters: implant depth, depth spread, diffusion distance, and diffusion of existing dopants

OXIDATION

Grows an oxide region from the applicable source material.

• Parameters: oxidation thickness

MODIFICATION

Converts a selected source material into a target material with a geometric volume change.

• Parameters: source material, target material, source-consumption thickness, and volume ratio
• Detailed parameters: reaction directionality

Masks and materials

Create and edit masks with shapes, arrays, and alignment controls, then assign them to applicable steps. Create project materials, edit their descriptive and display properties, and use them as inputs to supported process operations.

3D structures and cross-sections

Rotate and zoom the generated 3D structure, inspect X, Y, and Z two-dimensional cross-sections, or choose a bounded three-dimensional cutaway. Camera, slice position, surface presentation, lighting, and shadow settings adjust observation without changing the calculated structure.

Structure Explorer and four exploration modes

Switch among Composition, Provenance, Change, and Connect in the 3D structure and two-dimensional cross-sections. Composition uses materials, Provenance uses the step that first created each region, Change uses added, removed, and material-changed regions between steps, and Connect uses geometric nodes formed by metals and selected semiconductor materials. A selected region can carry across modes wherever a related unit can be resolved, and each unit can be highlighted or made transparent. See Structure Explorer for precise definitions and limits.

Steps, time dots, and saved views

Move through process steps and intermediate time dots to compare how the structure changes. Saved structural moments and viewer states provide useful points for returning to a view or organizing an explanation.

Projects, access, and sharing

Signed-in users can save cloud projects, save a copy, and duplicate work. Project access is organized as Private, Public, or Public + Listed. New projects and duplicates default to Public with Listed turned off, so they can be found through their link but do not appear in Explore or search. An owner can change this setting at any time, add collaborators with an assigned role, and share through a link or QR code.

Capture, Gallery, and presentation output

Copy a displayed two-dimensional cross-section or 3D view for use in other material. Gallery is a secondary presentation workspace for arranging structural scenes and notes; a Gallery sequence can also be exported as a PowerPoint file. These functions support communication but are not the core process-calculation model.

Guest and mobile access

Visitors can explore official examples and projects that are accessible to them without signing in. On mobile, Arpelier primarily provides a preview-oriented project interface: users can inspect existing projects and make limited temporary adjustments, but changes are not saved and creating a new project is not currently available. Desktop provides the fuller editing workflow.

Calculation boundary

Arpelier calculates geometric structural changes for supported operations and derives material, creation-origin, step-difference, and geometric-connectivity views from those results. Calculation time and preparation time for some exploration modes can vary with structure complexity and grid resolution. The public capability does not imply quantitative electrical prediction, equipment-level recipe prediction, or guaranteed fabrication outcomes.