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A BRIEF HISTORY
MOS
IC
1970: Processes using nMOS was became dominant. The processes usually had only
nMOS transistors Inexpensive, but consume power while idle
(NOTE: 1970s processes usually had only nMOS transistors Inexpensive, but
consume power while idle)
1980-Present: Power consumption become a major issue. CMOS process are widely
adopted.
(NOTE: CMOS processes for low idle power)
CMOS
VLSI TECHNOLOGY
Digression: Silicon Semiconductors
Modern electronic chips are built mostly on silicon substrates
Silicon is a Group IV semiconducting material
crystal lattice: covalent bonds hold each atom to four neighbours
Dopants
Pure silicon has few free carriers and conducts poorly
Adding dopants increases the conductivity drastically
Dopant from Group V (e.g. As, P): extra electron (n
(n-type)
Dopant from Group III (e.g. B, Al): missing electron, called hole (p
(p-type)
p-n Junctions
Transistor Types
Bipolar transistors
-npn
npn or pnp silicon structure
-Small
Small current into very thin base layer controls large currents between
emitter and collector
-Base
Base currents limit integration density
Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors
-nMOS
nMOS and pMOS MOSFETS
-Voltage
Voltage applied to insulated gate controls current between source and
drain
-Low
Low power allows very high integration
-First
First patent in the 20s in USA and Germany
-Not
Not widely used until the 60s or 70s
MOS Transistors
NMOS Operation
PMOS Transistor
GND = 0 V
In 1980s, VDD = 5V
VDD has decreased in modern processes
-High
High VDD would damage modern tiny transistors
-Lower
Lower VDD saves power
VDD = 3.3, 2.5, 1.8, 1.5, 1.2, 1.0,
Effective power supply
y voltage can be lower due to IR drop across the power grid.
o Trigger Circuits
o Multi-Vibrator Circuits
o Voltage-Generator Circuits
TRIGGER CIRCUITS
- Removal Possibilities of Signal Noise
- Schmitt-Trigger Circuit
MULTI-VIBRATOR CIRCUITS
- Destabilizing-Feedback Principle
- A-Stable Multi-Vibrator or Oscillator
- Bi-Stable Multi-Vibrator or Flip-Flop
- Mono-Stable Multi-Vibrator
CMOS FABRICATION
The Basics
- We create the majority of our ICs on Silicon.
- We take a silicon Wafer, which is a thin disk of intrinsic Silicon. On this disk, we
create multiple ICs, which are square or rectangular in shape.
- Once the wafer is processed, each individual IC is tested and marked whether it
passed or failed.
- The individual ICs are then cut out using a precision diamond saw.
- The individual IC is called a die.
1.) Increasing the number of die on a wafer
-smaller features (i.e., new processes, 1um, 0.8um, 0.25um, 90nm, 45nm)
-larger wafers (2, 4, 8, 12, 16)
2.) Increasing yield
-design changes
-fab changes
Insoluble
StateAfterUVExposure
Soluble
Photoresist
Negative
Soluble
Insoluble
Photoresist
Positive Photoresist is the most popular due to its ability to achieve higher resolution features
MASKS
-a mask in an opaque plate (i.e., not transparent) with holes/shapes that allow UV light to pass.
-this is kind of like an overhead transparency.
-the mask contains the pattern that we wish to form on the target wafer.
- we pass UV light through the Mask and create soluble patterns in the photoresist.
- each pattern we wish to create requires a unique mask.
- the physical glass plate that is used during fabrication is called a Reticle.
OXIDE GROWTH
-Silicon has an affinity to form an Oxide when exposed to Oxygen.
-This forms Silicon Dioxide (SiO2), or oxide for short. SiO2is an insulator. So all we have to do
in order to form an insulating layer on Silicon is expose it to Oxygen.
-Silicon is actually consumed during this process.
-There are two ways to provide the Oxygen for SiO2growth
Dry Oxidation -we use O2 gas in a chamber with the Silicon
-this can achieve thin layers of SiO2 for gates, <100nm
-No byproduct
Wet Oxidation-we use water (H20) liquid as the source
-the Silicon is submerged in water
-this process can achieve thick layers of SiO2for masking, 1-2um
-the byproduct of this process is Hydrogen, which must be
disposed of
-If heat is added to the process, the rate of SiO2growth is sped up considerably
-this is called Thermal Oxidation
-applies to both Wet and Dry processes
-temperatures usually are in the range of 700 1300 C
Etching
-Etching is the process of removing material from the substrate
-Etches can remove Si, SiO2, polysilicon, and metal depending on what we want to accomplish
-there are two common types of etch processes
Wet Etch-also called Chemical Etch
-this uses Hydrofluoric Acid (HF acid)
-the wafer is submerged in the acid
-simple, but produces toxic waste
Dry Etch-also called Plasma Etch-also called Reactive
Etching-when talking about etching, we typically talk about the etch patterns that can be formed
Isotropic - etches equally in all direction
-wet etch is isotropic-this etch leads to undercutting
Anisotropic -the etch rate is dependant on the direction of the etch
-dry etch is anisotropic
Deposition
-the process of adding material to the wafer (as opposed to growing, which consumes
part of the target)
-this is how we put down the polysilicon layer for the gate contact (in addition to
insulators and metal)
-Polysilicon is a polycrystalline material (SiH4) which is a conductor
-Polysilicon originally starts with a high resistivity, but when doped its resistively comes
down
Deposition-Process of adding
dding material (SiO2, nitride, poly, metal) using CVD/PVD
Ion Implantation-Process
Process of adding impurities or doping (ni
NA, ND)
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