ECE 422: Integrated Circuits

Lecture 01: IC Design History and Present

09/10/2021 DR. ENG. MOHAMED ISMAIL 1

Course Grading
method Score %
Class Participation 5
Assignments 10
Tests and Quizzes 15
Reports and Presentations 10
Midterm exam 20
Final exam 40
Total 100

09/10/2021 DR. ENG. MOHAMED ISMAIL 2

Reference

S. M. Sze, “Semiconductor Devices:

Physics and Technology”, Wiley & So.,
ISBN 0471333727, 2001

5/4/2021 DR. ENG. MOHAMED ISMAIL 3

semiconductor devices
Semiconductor devices are electronic devices that are fabricated
using semiconductor materials such as Silicon, Germanium, and
Gallium Arsenide.
Semiconductor devices are available as discrete components (available
on shelf in electronics stores)
or can be integrated with a large number of similar devices onto a single
chip, called an Integrated Circuit(IC).
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)

CMOS is a technology for constructing IC’s. This technology

is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, Memories, and other
digital logic circuits.

Microprocessor

Microcontroller

RAM
 Information age
 The ability to fabricate billions of
individual components (transistors,
resistors, capacitors, etc.) on a silicon
chip with an area of a few cm2 has
enabled the information age.
 Shrinking geometries permit more
devices to be placed in a given are of
silicon.
 It is widely expected that these historical
trends will continue for at least another 5-
10 years, resulting in Chips that contain
tens of billions of components.
First Transistor from Bell Labs (1947)
Kilby first IC (1958)
First monolithic integrated circuit

1961
Picture shows a flip-
flop circuit containing
6 devices, produced in
planar technology.
Source:
R. N. Neyce, “Semiconductor
device-and-lead structure”,
U.S.Patent 2,981,877
first microprocessor

1971
Picture shows a
four-bit microprocessor
Intel 4004.
 10 μm technology
 3 mm  4 mm
 2300 MOS-FETs
 108 kHz clock frequency
Source:
Intel Corporation
Pentium IV processor

2001
Picture shows a ULSI
chip with 32-bit processor
Intel Pentium 4.
0.18μm CMOS technology
17.5 mm  19 mm
42 000 000 components
1.6 GHz clock freuqncy
Source:
Intel Corporation
 Moore’s Law
 In 1965, Gordon Moore predicted that the number of
transistors that can be integrated on a die would double
every 18 to 14 months (i.e., grow exponentially with
time).
 Amazingly visionary – million transistor/chip barrier was
crossed in the 1980’s.
 2300 transistors, 1 MHz clock (Intel 4004) - 1971
 16 Million transistors (Ultra Sparc III)
 42 Million, 2 GHz clock (Intel P4) - 2001

 Xilinx currently holds the "world-record" for an

FPGA chip containing 6.8 billion transistors
Moore’s Law in Microprocessors
Transistors on microprocessors double every 2 years

1 Billion
K Transistors
1,000,000
100,000
Pentium® III
10,000 Pentium® II
Pentium® Pro
1,000 Pentium®
i486
100 i386
80286
10 8086
Source: Intel
1
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Projected

Courtesy, Intel
Moore’s law scaling
Moore and CMOS Scaling

“CMOS scaling will not stay forever, but, forever can be delayed”
Moore, 2003
Moore’s Law Challenges
 Defects during the manufacturing
process (a single defect larger
than some critical size usually
means that the chip will not
function correctly)
 IC manufacturing requires low
defect densities (Clean Rooms)
 Clean Rooms
 Clean room facility:
 Particle free walls, furniture, and accessories must be used
 Airflow through 0.3 microns filters
 Clean Rooms
 Clean room facility:
 Main function of clean rooms is control of particle
contamination
 Requires control of air flow, water and chemical filtrations,
human protocol
 Class N clean room means fewer than N particles (>0.5 µm) in
1 cubic foot of air

 Classes types:
 Class 10,000
 Class 1,000
 Class 100
 Class 10
 Clean Rooms
 Clean room facility:

Class 10,000 Class 1,000 Class 100 Class 10

Electronics Design Flow

 Design the circuit using electronic components

 Simulate your circuit using Spice
 Adjust the circuit till the simulation results are correct
 Draw your layout
 Simulate your layout (with parasitic) using Spice
 Adjust the circuit/layout till the simulation results are
correct
 Send your design for tape-out
 Test your chip  If not working  Repeat
How a processor is made
today?
 Sand
1- Sand. Made up of 25 percent silicon, is, after oxygen, the second most chemical
element that’s in the earth’s crust. Sand, especially quartz, has high percentages
of silicon in the form of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the base ingredient for
semiconductor manufacturing.
 Silicon
2-After separating the silicon, it is purified in multiple steps to finally reach S.C.
manufacturing quality which is called electronic grade silicon (poly-crystal). The
resulting purity is so great that it may only have one alien atom for every one
billion silicon atoms.
 Silicon Wafer fabrication
3-After the purification process, the silicon enters the melting phase. A mono-
crystal ingot is produced from electronic grade silicon. One ingot weighs
approximately 100 kilograms (or 220 pounds) and has a silicon purity of 99.9999
percent.
 Single Crystal Silicon Wafer
4-The ingot is then moved onto the slicing phase where individual silicon discs, called
wafers, are sliced thin. Several different diameters of ingots exist depending on
the required wafer size. Today, CPUs are commonly made on 300 mm wafers.
Once cut, the wafers are polished until they have flawless, mirror-smooth
surfaces.
 Lithography
5-The blue liquid is a photo resist finish similar to those used in film for
photography. The wafer spins during this step to allow an evenly-distributed
coating that’s smooth and also very thin. At this stage, the photo-resistant
finish is exposed to ultra violet (UV) light. The chemical reaction triggered by
the UV light is similar to what happens to film material in a camera the
moment you press the shutter button.
 etching
6-The exposure is done using masks that act like stencils. When used with UV
light, masks create the various circuit patterns. This process over and over
until multiple layers are stacked on top of each other.
 Thin film deposition
7- After being exposed to UV light, the exposed blue photo resist areas are
completely dissolved by a solvent. This reveals a pattern of photo resist made
by the mask. Areas that were exposed will be etched away with chemicals.
 Doping (ion implantation)
8- Through a process called ion implantation (doping) the exposed areas of the
silicon wafer are bombarded with ions. Ions are implanted in the silicon wafer to
alter the way silicon in these areas conduct electricity. Ions are propelled onto
the surface of the wafer at very high velocities.
 How a Processor is made ?
9- The wafers are put into a copper sulphate solution at this stage. Copper ions are
deposited onto the transistor through a process called electroplating. The
copper ions travel from the positive terminal (anode) to the negative terminal
(cathode) which is represented by the wafer.
 How a Processor is made ?
10-The copper ions settle as a thin layer on the wafer surface. The excess material
is polished off leaving a very thin layer of copper. Multiple metal layers are
created to interconnects (think wires) in between the various transistors.
 How a Processor is made ?
11- This fraction of a ready wafer is being put through a first functionality test. In
this stage test patterns are fed into every single chip and the response from
the chip monitored and compared to “the right answer.”
 How a Processor is made ?
12-The dies that responded with the right answer to the test pattern will be put
forward for the next step (packaging).
Top View of Silicon Wafer with Chips

A single integrated circuit, also known

as a die, chip, and microchip