The softwares and tools listed below (in order of preference) can export valid and standardized GDS format files for the HIMT laser writing equipment. General information about the DXF format are available here.

With many limitations and restrictions, DXF files may be accepted and converted correctly by the HIMT conversion tool. The DXF file format as been developped by Autodesk to enable data exchange between AutoCAD and related softwares. General information about the CIF format are available here. In general, the CIF format is converted without issues but some proprietary text statements introduced in specific layout editors (such a Clewin) may not be interpretated correctly by the HIMT conversion tool. The CIF file format is a concise and human readable text based description of the layout.

cif, CIF (Caltech Intermediate Format).

General information about the GDS format are available here. The GDS file format is an industry standard and the recommended file format to flawlessly convert your design to the internal language of the HIMT direct laser writing equipment.

gds, gdsii, gds2, GDSII (Graphic Database System for Information Interchange).

While you can use your preferred CAD software to generate the layout, the design should be exported to formats that are compatible with the Heidelberg Instruments (HIMT) laser writing equipments used in CMi, such as (in order of recommendation):

Some are proprietary, some public, some standard. There exist many layout file formats to describe such layouts. To create a complete 2D layout, the patterns can be drawn using dedicated computer-assisted design (CAD) softwares, generated using mathematics softwares such as Matlab or Octave, or coded using python/ruby programmed scripts. This will be a required step for either the fabrication of a Cr blank mask (to use on a mask-aligner or a stepper), or for exposing the photoresist with a UV laser (direct laser writing). to distinguish the areas where UV light will expose the photoresist from the areas where it will not. When you want to create a pattern on a wafer with photolithography, you have to describe or digitize the pattern by geometric shapes, i.e.

Zeiss siemens star with turbulence