IC Technology - Lecture Notes PDF

IC Technology Integrated Circuits (ICs) An IC is a collection of electronic components -- resistors, transistors, capacitors, etc. -- all stuffed into a...

IC Technology Integrated Circuits (ICs) An IC is a collection of electronic components -- resistors, transistors, capacitors, etc. -- all stuffed into a tiny chip, and connected together to achieve a common goal. They come in all sorts of flavors: single-circuit logic gates, op amps, 555 timers, voltage regulators, motor controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, FPGAs, etc. Integrated Circuits (ICs) are also known as microchips or microelectronic circuit, it is a semiconductor wafer that holds thousands and millions of resistors, capacitors, and transistors. It is basically an assembly of electronic components that’s fabricated as a single unit. Integrated Circuits (ICs) Inside Integrated Circuits (ICs) Ref: Hitachi-hightech Inside Integrated Circuits (ICs) The image above then shows how an IC chip looks like under an X-ray through 3D rendering, it features complex structures with multiple layers that forms an IC chip. Ref: Physics world Integrated Circuits (ICs) Figure 1. In 1962, four women programmers hold parts of the first four Army computers. From left is the ENIAC board, EDVAC board, ORDVAC board, and the BRLESC-I board. Image courtesy of the US Army. Scale of Integrated Circuits (ICs) Scale of Integrated Circuits (ICs) SSI MSI LSI VLSI ULSI Figure 1: Analog Signal Figure 2: Analog Circuit Figure 1: Digital Signal Figure 2: Digital Circuit  A FinFET is a type of field-effect transistor (FET) that has a thin vertical fin instead of being completely planar. The gate is fully “wrapped” around the channel on three sides formed between the source and the drain. The greater surface area created between the gate and channel provides better control of the electric state and reduces leakage compared to planar FETs. Using FinFETs, results in much better electrostatic control of the channel and thus better electrical characteristics than planar FETs. Fig. l. A structure of monolithic 3D IC based on FinFET technology. https://www.synopsys.com/glossary/what-is-a-finfet.html Integrated Circuits Fabrication Techniques The starting material for integrated circuits fabrication is Single crystal silicon wafer. 1. Layering The layering step serves to add thin layers to the surface of the wafer. These layers may be of a different material, microstructure and composition of the same material such as polycrystalline silicon and silicon oxide. Back End Of Line (BEOL) Integrated Circuits Fabrication Techniques The starting material for integrated circuits fabrication is Single crystal silicon wafer. 2. Patterning The most important step in wafer fabrication is patterning or lithography. The deposition, doping, etching, and patterning refer to a series of steps to selectively mask or expose portions of the surface. It sets the device’s critical dimensions on the wafers. Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETg) Indium tin oxide (ITO) Polymerized polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) Integrated Circuits Fabrication Techniques The starting material for integrated circuits fabrication is Single crystal silicon wafer. 3. Doping It is refers to the process of incorporating specific amounts of electrically active impurities through openings on the surface of the wafers. The doped materials are typically impurities of the type p or n and are necessary to form devices such as diodes , transistors, conductors and IC devices. Integrated Circuits Fabrication Techniques The starting material for integrated circuits fabrication is Single crystal silicon wafer. 4. Heat treatment, also called Furnace annealing It is a process used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices which consists of heating multiple wafers of semiconductors to affect their electrical properties. The heat treatments are designed for various effects. Wafers can be heated to enable dopants (doped material like phosphorus), transfer film to film or film to wafer substratum interfaces, densify deposited films, adjust grown film conditions, repair implant damage, shift dopants or drive dopants from one film to another or from a film to wafer substratum as shown in figure A. Integrated Circuits Fabrication Techniques The starting material for integrated circuits fabrication is Single crystal silicon wafer. 4. Heat treatment, also called Furnace annealing It is a process used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices which consists of heating multiple wafers of semiconductors to affect their electrical properties. The heat treatments are designed for various effects. Wafers can be heated to enable dopants (doped material like phosphorus), transfer film to film or film to wafer substratum interfaces, densify deposited films, adjust grown film conditions, repair implant damage, shift dopants or drive dopants from one film to another or from a film to wafer substratum as shown in figure A. https://youtu.be/_VMYPLXnd7E Quantum Computer Quantum computer Intel Corporation’s 49-qubit quantum computing test chip, code-named “Tangle Lake,” is unveiled at 2018 CES in Las Vegas. (Credit: Walden Kirsch/Intel Corporation) U.S. President Joe Biden stands next to a quantum computer Quantum computer “Quantum computing takes advantage of the strange ability of subatomic particles to exist in more than one state at any time. Due to the way the tiniest of particles behave, operations can be done much more quickly and use less energy than classical computers” — BEALL, A (2018) Quantum computer