A review of advances in pixel detectors for experiments with high rate and radiation

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments ATLAS and CMS have established hybrid pixel detectors as the instrument of choice for particle tracking and vertexing in high rate and radiation environments, as they operate close to the LHC interaction points. With the High Luminosity-LHC upgrade now in sight, for which the tracking detectors will be completely replaced, new generations of pixel detectors are being devised. They have to address enormous challenges in terms of data throughput and radiation levels, ionizing and non-ionizing, that harm the sensing and readout parts of pixel detectors alike. Advances in microelectronics and microprocessing technologies now enable large scale detector designs with unprecedented performance in measurement precision (space and time), radiation hard sensors and readout chips, hybridization techniques, lightweight supports, and fully monolithic approaches to meet these challenges. This paper reviews the world-wide effort on these developments.Comment: 84 pages with 46 figures. Review article.For submission to Rep. Prog. Phy

Through-Silicon Vias in SiGe BiCMOS and Interposer Technologies for Sub-THz Applications

Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Dissertation zum Thema „Through-Silicon Vias in SiGe BiCMOS and Interposer Technologies for Sub-THz Applications“ wurde auf Basis einer 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS Technologie ein Through-Silicon Via (TSV) Technologiemodul zur Herstellung elektrischer Durchkontaktierungen für die Anwendung im Millimeterwellen und Sub-THz Frequenzbereich entwickelt. TSVs wurden mittels elektromagnetischer Simulationen modelliert und in Bezug auf ihre elektrischen Eigenschaften bis in den sub-THz Bereich bis zu 300 GHz optimiert. Es wurden die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Modellierung, Fertigungstechnologie und den elektrischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Besonderes Augenmerk wurde auf die technologischen Einflussfaktoren gelegt. Daraus schlussfolgernd wurde das TSV Technologiemodul entwickelt und in eine SiGe BiCMOS Technologie integriert. Hierzu wurde eine Via-Middle Integration gewählt, welche eine Freilegung der TSVs von der Wafer Rückseite erfordert. Durch die geringe Waferdicke von ca. 75 μm wird einen Carrier Wafer Handling Prozess verwendet. Dieser Prozess wurde unter der Randbedingung entwickelt, dass eine nachfolgende Bearbeitung der Wafer innerhalb der BiCMOS Pilotlinie erfolgen kann. Die Rückseitenbearbeitung zielt darauf ab, einen Redistribution Layer auf der Rückseite der BiCMOS Wafer zu realisieren. Hierzu wurde ein Prozess entwickelt, um gleichzeitig verschiedene TSV Strukturen mit variablen Geometrien zu realisieren und damit eine hohe TSV Design Flexibilität zu gewährleisten. Die TSV Strukturen wurden von DC bis über 300 GHz charakterisiert und die elektrischen Eigenschaften extrahiert. Dabei wurde gezeigt, dass TSV Verbindungen mit sehr geringer Dämpfung <1 dB bis 300 GHz realisierbar sind und somit ausgezeichnete Hochfrequenzeigenschaften aufweisen. Zuletzt wurden vielfältige Anwendungen wie das Grounding von Hochfrequenzschaltkreisen, Interposer mit Waveguides und 300 GHz Antennen dargestellt. Das Potential für Millimeterwellen Packaging und 3D Integration wurde evaluiert. TSV Technologien sind heutzutage in vielen Anwendungen z.B. im Bereich der Systemintegration von Digitalschaltkreisen und der Spannungsversorgung von integrierten Schaltkreisen etabliert. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde der Einsatz von TSVs für Millimeterwellen und dem sub-THz Frequenzbereich untersucht und die Anwendung für den sub-THz Bereich bis 300 GHz demonstriert. Dadurch werden neue Möglichkeiten der Systemintegration und des Packaging von Höchstfrequenzsystemen geschaffen.:Bibliographische Beschreibung List of symbols and abbreviations Acknowledgement 1. Introduction 2. FEM Modeling of BiCMOS & Interposer Through-Silicon Vias 3. Fabrication of BiCMOS & Silicon Interposer with TSVs 4. Characterization of BiCMOS Embedded Through-Silicon Vias 5. Applications 6. Conclusion and Future Work 7. Appendix 8. Publications & Patents 9. Bibliography 10. List of Figures and Table

Through Silicon Via Field-Effect Transistor with Hafnia-based Ferroelectrics and the Doping of Silicon by Gallium Implantation Utilizing a Focused Ion Beam System

3-dimensional integration has become a standard to further increase the transistor density and to enhance the integrated functionality in microchips. Integrated circuits are stacked on top of each other and copper-filled through-silicon VIAs (TSVs) are the industry-accepted choice for their vertical electrical connection. The aim of this work is to functionalize the TSVs by implementing vertical field-effect transistors inside the via holes. The front and back sides of 200 ... 300 µm thin silicon wafers were doped to create the source/drain regions of n- and p-FETs. The TSVFETs showed very stable saturation currents and on/off current ratios of about 10^6 (n-TSVFET) and 10^3 (p-TSVFET) for a gate voltage magnitude of 4V. The use of hafnium zirconium oxide on a thin SiO_2 interface layer as gate dielectric material in a p-TSVFET, enabled the implementation of a charge trapping memory inside the TSVs, showing a memory window of about 1V. This allows the non-volatile storage of the transistor on/off state. In addition, the demonstration of the use of gallium as the source/drain dopant in planar p-FET test structures (ion implanted from a focused ion beam tool) paves the way for maskless doping and for a process flow with a low thermal budget. It was shown, that ion implanted gallium can be activated and annealed at relatively low temperatures of 500 °C ... 700 °C.:Abstract / Kurzzusammenfassung Danksagung Index I List of Figures III List of Tables X List of Symbols XI List of Abbreviations XV 1 Introduction 1 2 Fundamentals 5 2.1 Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) 5 2.1.1 Historical Development - Technological Advancements 7 2.1.2 Field-Effect Transistors in Semiconductor Memories 10 2.2 3D Integration and the Use of TSVs (Through Silicon VIAs) 16 2.3 Doping of Silicon 19 2.3.1 Doping by Thermal Diffusion 20 2.3.2 Doping by Ion Implantation 22 3 Electrical Characterization 24 3.1 Resistivity Measurements 24 3.1.1 Resistance Determination by Four-Point Probes Measurement 24 3.1.2 Contact Resistivity 27 3.1.3 Doping Concentration 32 3.2 C-V Measurements 35 3.2.1 Fundamentals of MIS C-V Measurements 35 3.2.2 Interpretation of C-V Measurements 37 3.3 Transistor Measurements 41 3.3.1 Output Characteristics (I_D-V_D) 41 3.3.2 Transfer Characteristics (I_D-V_G) 42 4 TSV Transistor 45 4.1 Idea and Motivation 45 4.2 Design and Layout of the TSV Transistor 47 4.2.1 Design of the TSV Transistor Structures 47 4.2.2 Test Structures for Planar FETs 48 5 Variations in the Integration Scheme of the TSV Transistor 51 5.1 Doping by Diffusion from Thin Films 51 5.1.1 Determination of Doping Profiles 52 5.1.2 n- and p- TSVFETs Doped Manufactures by the Use of the Diffusion Technique 59 5.2 Ferroelectric Hafnium-Zirconium-Oxide (HZO) in the Gate Stack 81 5.2.1 Planar ferroelectric p-MOSFETs Doped by Thermal Diffusion 82 5.2.2 p-TSVFETs with Hafnium-Zirconium-Oxide Metal Gate 90 5.3 Doping by Ion Implantation of Gallium with a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Tool 96 5.3.1 Ga doped Si Diodes 97 5.3.2 Planar p-MOSFETs Doped by Ga Implantation 108 5.3.3 Proposal for a parallel integration of Cu TSVs and p-TSVFETs 117 6 Summary and Outlook 120 Bibliography XVIII A Appendix XXXVI A.1 Resistivity and Dopant Density XXXVI A.2 Mask set for the TSVFET XXXVII A.3 Mask Design of the Planar Test Structures XXXVIII Curriculum Vitae XXXIX List of Scientific Publications XL

High-Density Solid-State Memory Devices and Technologies

This Special Issue aims to examine high-density solid-state memory devices and technologies from various standpoints in an attempt to foster their continuous success in the future. Considering that broadening of the range of applications will likely offer different types of solid-state memories their chance in the spotlight, the Special Issue is not focused on a specific storage solution but rather embraces all the most relevant solid-state memory devices and technologies currently on stage. Even the subjects dealt with in this Special Issue are widespread, ranging from process and design issues/innovations to the experimental and theoretical analysis of the operation and from the performance and reliability of memory devices and arrays to the exploitation of solid-state memories to pursue new computing paradigms

Self-Aligned 3D Chip Integration Technology and Through-Silicon Serial Data Transmission

The emerging three-dimensional (3D) integration technology is expected to lead to an industry paradigm shift due to its tremendous benefits. Intense research activities are going on about technology, simulation, design, and product prototypes. This thesis work aims at fabricating through-silicon vias (TSVs) on diced processor chips, and later bonding them into a 3D-stacked chip. How to handle and process delicate processor chips with high alignment precision is a key issue. The TSV process to be developed also needs to adapt to this constraint. Four TSV processes have been studied. Among them, the ring-trench TSV process demonstrates the feasibility of fabricating TSVs with the prevailing dimensions, and the whole-through TSV process achieves the first dummy chip post-processed with TSVs in EPFL although the dimension is rather large to keep a reasonable aspect ratio (AR). Four self-alignment (SA) techniques have been investigated, among which the gravitational SA and the hydrophobic SA are found to be quite promising. Using gravitational SA, we come to the conclusion that cavities in silicon carrier wafer with a profile angle of 60° can align the chips with less than 20 µm inaccuracies. The alignment precision can be improved after adopting more advanced dicing tools instead of using the traditional dicing saws and larger cavity profile angle. Such inaccuracy will be sufficient to align the relatively large TSVs for general products such as 3D image sensors. By fabricating bottom TSVs in the carrier wafer, a 3D silicon interposer idea has been proposed to stack another chip, e.g. a processor chip, on the other side of the carrier wafer. But stacking microprocessor chips fabricated with TSVs will require higher alignment precision. A hydrophobic SA technique using the surface tension force generated by the water-to-air interfaces around the pads can greatly reduce the alignment inaccuracy to less than 1 µm. This low-cost and high throughput SA procedure is processed in air, fully-compatible with current fabrication technologies, and highly stable and repeatable. We present a theoretical meniscus model to predict SA results and to provide the design rules. This technique is quite promising for advanced 3D applications involving logic and heterogeneous stacking. As TSVs' dimensions in the chip-level 3D integration are constrained by the chip-level processes, such as bonding, the smallest TSVs might still be about 5 µm. Thus, the area occupied by the TSVs cannot be neglected. Fortunately, TSVs can withstand very high bandwidths, meaning that data can be serialized and transmitted using less numbers of TSVs. With 20 µm TSVs, the 2-Gb/s 8:1 serial link implemented saves 75% of the area of its 8-bit parallel counterpart. The quasi-serial link proposed can effectively balance the inter-layer bandwidth and the serial links' area consumption. The area model of the serial or quasi-serial links working under higher frequencies provides some guidelines to choose the proper serial link design, and it also predicts that when TSV diameter shrinks to 5 µm, it will be difficult to keep this area benefit if without some novel circuit design techniques. As the serial links can be implemented with less area, the bandwidth per unit area is increased. Two scenarios are studied, single-port memory access and multi-port memory access. The expanded inter-layer bandwidth by serialization does not improve the system performance because of the bus-bottleneck problem. In the latter scenario, the inter-layer ultra-wide bandwidth can be exploited as each memory bank can be accessed randomly through the NoC. Thus further widening the inter-layer bandwidth through serialization, the system performance will be improved

Strain-Engineered MOSFETs

This book brings together new developments in the area of strain-engineered MOSFETs using high-mibility substrates such as SIGe, strained-Si, germanium-on-insulator and III-V semiconductors into a single text which will cover the materials aspects, principles, and design of advanced devices, their fabrication and applications. The book presents a full TCAD methodology for strain-engineering in Si CMOS technology involving data flow from process simulation to systematic process variability simulation and generation of SPICE process compact models for manufacturing for yield optimization

Modeling, design, and characterization of through vias in silicon and glass interposers

Advancements in very large scale integration (VLSI) technology have led to unprecedented transistor and interconnect scaling. Further miniaturization by traditional IC scaling in future planar CMOS technology faces significant challenges. Stacking of ICs (3D IC) using three dimensional (3D) integration technology helps in significantly reducing wiring lengths, interconnect latency and power dissipation while reducing the size of the chip and enhancing performance. Interposer technology with ultra-fine pitch interconnections needs to be developed to support the huge I/O connection requirement for packaging 3D ICs. Through vias in stacked silicon ICs and interposers are the key components of a 3D system. The objective of this dissertation is to model through vias in 3D silicon and glass interposers and, to address power and high-speed signal integrity issues in 3D interposers considering silicon biasing effects. An equivalent circuit model of the through via in silicon interposer (Si TPV) has been proposed considering the bias voltage dependent Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) capacitance effect. Important design guidelines and optimizations are proposed for Si TPVs used in the signal delivery network, power delivery network (PDN), and as variable capacitors. Through vias in glass interposers (Glass TPVs) are modeled, designed and simulated by using electromagnetic field solvers. Signal and power integrity analyses are performed for silicon and glass interposers. PDN design is proposed by utilizing the MOS capacitance of the Si TPVs for decoupling.PhDCommittee Chair: Tummala, Rao; Committee Co-Chair: Swaminathan, Madhavan; Committee Member: Lim, Sung Kyu; Committee Member: Mukhopadhyay, Saibal; Committee Member: Sitaraman, Suresh; Committee Member: Sundaram, Venk

Heterogeneous 2.5D integration on through silicon interposer

© 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. Driven by the need to reduce the power consumption of mobile devices, and servers/data centers, and yet continue to deliver improved performance and experience by the end consumer of digital data, the semiconductor industry is looking for new technologies for manufacturing integrated circuits (ICs). In this quest, power consumed in transferring data over copper interconnects is a sizeable portion that needs to be addressed now and continuing over the next few decades. 2.5D Through-Si-Interposer (TSI) is a strong candidate to deliver improved performance while consuming lower power than in previous generations of servers/data centers and mobile devices. These low-power/high-performance advantages are realized through achievement of high interconnect densities on the TSI (higher than ever seen on Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) or organic substrates), and enabling heterogeneous integration on the TSI platform where individual ICs are assembled at close proximity