From Handwiki - Reading time: 1 minIn integrated circuit design, a critical area is a section of a circuit design wherein a particle of a particular size can cause a failure.[1] It measures the sensitivity of the circuit to a reduction in yield.[2]
The critical area [math]\displaystyle{ (A_c) }[/math] on a single layer integrated circuit design is given by:
where [math]\displaystyle{ A(r) }[/math] is the area in which a defect of radius [math]\displaystyle{ r }[/math] will cause a failure, and [math]\displaystyle{ D(r) }[/math] is the density function of said defect.[3]