GDSII

GDSII stream format (GDSII), is a binary database file format which is the de facto industry standard for electronic design automation (EDA) data exchange of integrated circuit (IC) or IC layout artwork.

Objects contained in a GDSII file are grouped by assigning numeric attributes to them including a "layer number", "datatype" or "texttype".

As of April 2008, many EDA software vendors have moved to the stream format OASIS, which replaced GDSII.

[2] As the GDSII stream format is a de facto standard, it is supported by nearly all EDA software.

GDS II Graphic Design System User's Operating Manual, First Edition 1978.

A rendering of a small GDSII standard cell with three metal layers ( dielectric has been removed). The sand-colored structures are metal interconnect, with the vertical pillars being contacts, typically plugs of tungsten. The reddish structures are polysilicon gates, and the solid at the bottom is the crystalline silicon bulk.