Integration of Through Silicon Vias (TSVs) in a standard CMOS process flow using pre-contact processing

Background:

Three dimensional (3D) integrated circuits (ICs) use high-density, short through silicon via (TSV) -based vertical interconnects. These 3D components provide new opportunities to design and develop efficient multi-core computation systems. They also reduce the core-to-core interconnect complexity and communication time to improve multi-core operation performance. In addition, TSV technology can enable 3D heterogeneous IC integration. Unfortunately, TSV-based structures are often difficult to integrate with the fabrication processes used to manufacture today's modern complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) components. Since CMOS is the semiconductor technology used in most of today's ICs, this has limited the adoption of 3D components.

Technology Overview:

This technology enables the integration of TSV structures into industry standard CMOS manufacturing processes. To do this, the technology defines the TSV on top of the CMOS barrier nitride/isolation oxide. A soft mask defines the TSV shape in the oxide shallow trench isolation region, away from active device silicon. After imaging the TSVs, the structure is etched through the barrier oxide and into the bulk silicon wafer. The TSVs are then fully metalized after determining contact dielectric thickness. Upon completion of the TSV structure, the CMOS contacts are immediately patterned, etched, and metalized using standard CMOS manufacturing techniques. No new contact dielectric or planarization is needed.

Advantages:

• Enables the integration of TSVs into CMOS devices using standard manufacturing processes.
• Enables the manufacture of 3D ICs.

Applications:

The primary application for this technology is the manufacture of CMOS 3D ICs. These 3D components can be used to design and develop efficient multi-core computation systems.

Patent Number 8,969,200

Stage of Development:

TRL 6

Licensing Status:

This technology is available for licensing.