Introduction to

CMOS VLSI
Design

CMOS Fabrication and

Layout
copyright@David Harris, 2004
Updated by Li Chen, 2010

CMOS Fabrication
CMOS transistors are fabricated on silicon wafer
Lithography process similar to printing press
On each step, different materials are deposited or
etched
Easiest to understand by viewing both top and
cross-section of wafer in a simplified manufacturing
process

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 2

Inverter Cross-section
Typically use p-type substrate for nMOS transistors
Requires n-well
n well for body of pMOS transistors
A
GND

VDD

SiO2
n+ diffusion

n+

n+

p+

p+ diffusion

p+

polysilicon

n well
p substrate

metal1

nMOS transistor

pMOS transistor

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 3

Well and Substrate Taps

Substrate must be tied to GND and n-well to VDD
Metal to lightly-doped
lightly doped semiconductor forms poor
connection called Shottky Diode
Use heavily doped well and substrate contacts / taps
A
GND

VDD

p+

n+

p+

n+

p+

n+

n well
p substrate
substrate tap

0: Introduction

well tap

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 4

Inverter Mask Set

Transistors and wires are defined by masks
Cross
Cross-section
section taken along dashed line

GND

VDD
nMOS transistor

pMOS transistor
well tap

substrate tap

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 5

Detailed Mask Views

Six masks
n
n-well
well
Polysilicon
n+ diffusion
p+ diffusion
Contact
Metal

n well

Polysilicon

n+ Diffusion

p+ Diffusion

Contact

Metal

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 6

Fabrication Steps
Start with blank wafer
Build inverter from the bottom up
First step will be to form the n-well
Cover wafer with protective layer of SiO2 (oxide)
Remove layer where n-well should be built
Implant or diffuse n dopants into exposed wafer
Strip off SiO2

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 7

Oxidation
Grow SiO2 on top of Si wafer
900 1200 C with H2O or O2 in oxidation furnace

SiO2

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 8

Photoresist
Spin on photoresist
Photoresist is a light-sensitive
light sensitive organic polymer
Softens where exposed to light

Photoresist
SiO2

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 9

Lithography
Expose photoresist through n-well mask
Strip off exposed photoresist

Photoresist
SiO2

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 10

Etch
Etch oxide with hydrofluoric acid (HF)
Seeps through skin and eats bone; nasty stuff!!!
Only attacks oxide where resist has been exposed

Photoresist
SiO2

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 11

Strip Photoresist
Strip off remaining photoresist
Use mixture of acids called piranah etch
Necessary so resist doesnt melt in next step

SiO2

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 12

n-well
n-well is formed with diffusion or ion implantation
Diffusion
Place wafer in furnace with arsenic gas
Heat until As atoms diffuse into exposed Si
Ion Implanatation
Blast wafer with beam of As ions
Ions blocked by SiO2, only enter exposed Si
SiO2
n well

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 13

Strip Oxide
Strip off the remaining oxide using HF
Back to bare wafer with n-well
n well
Subsequent steps involve similar series of steps

n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 14

Polysilicon
Deposit very thin layer of gate oxide
< 20 (6
(6-7
7 atomic layers)
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of silicon layer
Place wafer in furnace with Silane gas (SiH4)
Forms many small crystals called polysilicon
Heavily doped to be good conductor
Polysilicon
Thin gate oxide
n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 15

Polysilicon Patterning
Use same lithography process to pattern polysilicon

Polysilicon

Polysilicon
Thin gate oxide
n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 16

Self-Aligned Process
Use oxide and masking to expose where n+ dopants
should be diffused or implanted
p
N-diffusion forms nMOS source, drain, and n-well
contact

n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 17

N-diffusion
Pattern oxide and form n+ regions
Self
Self-aligned
aligned process where gate blocks diffusion
Polysilicon is better than metal for self-aligned gates
because it doesnt melt during later processing

n+ Diffusion

n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 18

N-diffusion cont.
Historically dopants were diffused
Usually ion implantation today
But regions are still called diffusion

n+

n+

n+
n well

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 19

N-diffusion cont.
Strip off oxide to complete patterning step

n+

n+

n+
n well

p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 20

10

P-Diffusion
Similar set of steps form p+ diffusion regions for
pMOS source and drain and substrate contact
p

p+ Diffusion

p+

n+

n+

p+

p+

n+

n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 21

Contacts
Now we need to wire together the devices
Cover chip with thick field oxide
Etch oxide where contact cuts are needed

Contact

Thick field oxide

p+

n+

n+

p+

p+

n+

n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 22

11

Metalization
Sputter on aluminum over whole wafer
Pattern to remove excess metal, leaving wires

M etal

Metal
Thick field oxide
p+

n+

n+

p+

p+

n+

n well
p substrate

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 23

Layout
Chips are specified with set of masks
Minimum dimensions of masks determine transistor
size (and hence speed, cost, and power)
Feature size f = distance between source and drain
Set by minimum width of polysilicon
Feature size improves 30% every 3 years or so
Normalize for feature size when describing design
rules
Express rules in terms of = f/2
E.g. = 0.3 m in 0.6 m process
0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 24

12

Simplified Design Rules

Conservative rules to get you started

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 25

Inverter Layout
Transistor dimensions specified as Width / Length
Minimum size is 4 / 2, sometimes called 1 unit
In f = 0.6 m process, this is 1.2 m wide, 0.6 m
long

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 26

13

Summary

MOS Transistors are stack of gate, oxide, silicon

Can be viewed as electrically controlled switches
Build logic gates out of switches
Draw masks to specify layout of transistors

Now you know everything necessary to start

designing schematics and layout for a simple chip!

0: Introduction

CMOS VLSI Design

Slide 27

14