Finding new materials for copper/low-k interconnects is critical to the continuing development of computer chips. While copper/low-k interconnects have served well, allowing for the creation of Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) devices which combine over a billion transistors onto a single chip, the increased resistance and RC-delay at the smaller scale has become a significant factor affecting chip performance. Advanced Interconnects for ULSI Technology is dedicated to the materials and methods which might be suitable replacements. It covers a broad range of topics, from physical principles to design, fabrication, characterization, and application of new materials for nano-interconnects, and discusses: Interconnect functions, characterisations, electrical properties and wiring requirements Low-k materials: fundamentals, advances and mechanical properties Conductive layers and barriers Integration and reliability including mechanical reliability, electromigration and electrical breakdown New approaches including 3D, optical, wireless interchip, and carbon-based interconnects Intended for postgraduate students and researchers, in academia and industry, this book provides a critical overview of the enabling technology at the heart of the future development of computer chips.

Finding new materials for copper/low-k interconnects is critical to the continuing development of computer chips. While copper/low-k interconnects have served well, allowing for the creation of Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) devices which combine over a billion transistors onto a single chip, the increased resistance and RC-delay at the smaller scale has become a significant factor affecting chip performance. Advanced Interconnects for ULSI Technology is dedicated to the materials and methods which might be suitable replacements. It covers a broad range of topics, from physical principles to design, fabrication, characterization, and application of new materials for nano-interconnects, and discusses: Interconnect functions, characterisations, electrical properties and wiring requirements Low-k materials: fundamentals, advances and mechanical properties Conductive layers and barriers Integration and reliability including mechanical reliability, electromigration and electrical breakdown New approaches including 3D, optical, wireless interchip, and carbon-based interconnects Intended for postgraduate students and researchers, in academia and industry, this book provides a critical overview of the enabling technology at the heart of the future development of computer chips.

In Advanced ULSI interconnects – fundamentals and applications we bring a comprehensive description of copper-based interconnect technology for ultra-lar- scale integration (ULSI) technology for integrated circuit (IC) application. In- grated circuit technology is the base for all modern electronics systems. You can ?nd electronics systems today everywhere: from toys and home appliances to a- planes and space shuttles. Electronics systems form the hardware that together with software are the bases of the modern information society. The rapid growth and vast exploitation of modern electronics system create a strong demand for new and improved electronic circuits as demonstrated by the amazing progress in the ?eld of ULSI technology. This progress is well described by the famous “Moore’s law” which states, in its most general form, that all the metrics that describe integrated circuit performance (e. g. , speed, number of devices, chip area) improve expon- tially as a function of time. For example, the number of components per chip d- bles every 18 months and the critical dimension on a chip has shrunk by 50% every 2 years on average in the last 30 years. This rapid growth in integrated circuits te- nology results in highly complex integrated circuits with an increasing number of interconnects on chips and between the chip and its package. The complexity of the interconnect network on chips involves an increasing number of metal lines per interconnect level, more interconnect levels, and at the same time a reduction in the interconnect line critical dimensions.

Electromigration in ULSI Interconnections provides a comprehensive description of the electromigration in integrated circuits. It is intended for both beginner and advanced readers on electromigration in ULSI interconnections. It begins with the basic knowledge required for a detailed study on electromigration, and examines the various interconnected systems and their evolution employed in integrated circuit technology. The subsequent chapters provide a detailed description of the physics of electromigration in both Al- and Cu-based Interconnections, in the form of theoretical, experimental and numerical modeling studies. The differences in the electromigration of Al- and Cu-based interconnections and the corresponding underlying physical mechanisms for these differences are explained. The test structures, testing methodology, failure analysis methodology and statistical analysis of the test data for the experimental studies on electromigration are presented in a concise and rigorous manner. Methods of numerical modeling for the interconnect electromigration and their applications to the understanding of electromigration physics are described in detail with the aspects of material properties, interconnection design, and interconnect process parameters on the electromigration performances of interconnects in ULSI further elaborated upon. Finally, the extension of the studies to narrow interconnections is introduced, and future challenges on the study of electromigration are outlined and discussed.

Since overall circuit performance has depended primarily on transistor properties, previous efforts to enhance circuit and system speed were focused on transistors as well. During the last decade, however, the parasitic resistance, capacitance, and inductance associated with interconnections began to influence circuit performance and will be the primary factors in the evolution of nanoscale ULSI technology. Because metallic conductivity and resistance to electromigration of bulk copper (Cu) are better than aluminum, use of copper and low-k materials is now prevalent in the international microelectronics industry. As the feature size of the Cu-lines forming interconnects is scaled, resistivity of the lines increases. At the same time electromigration and stress-induced voids due to increased current density become significant reliability issues. Although copper/low-k technology has become fairly mature, there is no single book available on the promise and challenges of these next-generation technologies. In this book, a leader in the field describes advanced laser systems with lower radiation wavelengths, photolithography materials, and mathematical modeling approaches to address the challenges of Cu-interconnect technology.

More than 1,100 TEM images illustrate the science of ULSI The natural outgrowth of VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration), Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) refers to semiconductor chips with more than 10 million devices per chip. Written by three renowned pioneers in their field, ULSI Semiconductor Technology Atlas uses examples and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) micrographs to explain and illustrate ULSI process technologies and their associated problems. The first book available on the subject to be illustrated using TEM images, ULSI Semiconductor Technology Atlas is logically divided into four parts: * Part I includes basic introductions to the ULSI process, device construction analysis, and TEM sample preparation * Part II focuses on key ULSI modules--ion implantation and defects, dielectrics and isolation structures, silicides/salicides, and metallization * Part III examines integrated devices, including complete planar DRAM, stacked cell DRAM, and trench cell DRAM, as well as SRAM as examples for process integration and development * Part IV emphasizes special applications, including TEM in advanced failure analysis, TEM in advanced packaging development and UBM (Under Bump Metallization) studies, and high-resolution TEM in microelectronics This innovative guide also provides engineers and managers in the microelectronics industry, as well as graduate students, with: * More than 1,100 TEM images to illustrate the science of ULSI * A historical introduction to the technology as well as coverage of the evolution of basic ULSI process problems and issues * Discussion of TEM in other advanced microelectronics devices and materials, such as flash memories, SOI, SiGe devices, MEMS, and CD-ROMs

In Interconnect-centric Design for Advanced SoC and NoC, we have tried to create a comprehensive understanding about on-chip interconnect characteristics, design methodologies, layered views on different abstraction levels and finally about applying the interconnect-centric design in system-on-chip design. Traditionally, on-chip communication design has been done using rather ad-hoc and informal approaches that fail to meet some of the challenges posed by next-generation SOC designs, such as performance and throughput, power and energy, reliability, predictability, synchronization, and management of concurrency. To address these challenges, it is critical to take a global view of the communication problem, and decompose it along lines that make it more tractable. We believe that a layered approach similar to that defined by the communication networks community should also be used for on-chip communication design. The design issues are handled on physical and circuit layer, logic and architecture layer, and from system design methodology and tools point of view. Formal communication modeling and refinement is used to bridge the communication layers, and network-centric modeling of multiprocessor on-chip networks and socket-based design will serve the development of platforms for SoC and NoC integration. Interconnect-centric Design for Advanced SoC and NoC is concluded by two application examples: interconnect and memory organization in SoCs for advanced set-top boxes and TV, and a case study in NoC platform design for more generic applications.

This Second Edition focuses on emerging topics and advances in the field of VLSI interconnections In the decade since High-Speed VLSI Interconnections was first published, several major developments have taken place in the field. Now, updated to reflect these advancements, this Second Edition includes new information on copper interconnections, nanotechnology circuit interconnects, electromigration in the copper interconnections, parasitic inductances, and RLC models for comprehensive analysis of interconnection delays and crosstalk. Each chapter is designed to exist independently or as a part of one coherent unit, and several appropriate exercises are provided at the end of each chapter, challenging the reader to gain further insight into the contents being discussed. Chapter subjects include: * Preliminary Concepts * Parasitic Resistances, Capacitances, and Inductances * Interconnection Delays * Crosstalk Analysis * Electromigration-Induced Failure Analysis * Future Interconnections High-Speed VLSI Interconnections, Second Edition is an indispensable reference for high-speed VLSI designers, RF circuit designers, and advanced students of electrical engineering.

This book provides an up to date survey of the state of the art of research into the materials used in information technology, and will be bought by researchers in universities, institutions as well as research workers in the semiconductor and IT industries.

Offering thorough coverage of atomic layer deposition (ALD), this book moves from basic chemistry of ALD and modeling of processes to examine ALD in memory, logic devices and machines. Reviews history, operating principles and ALD processes for each device.