Tezzaron Announces World’s First Eight-Layer Active Wafer Stack
August 30 2015 - 7:00PM
Business Wire
Transistor density, interconnect density claim new records
Today at the IEEE 3DIC conference, Tezzaron Semiconductor and
their manufacturing subsidiary, Novati Technologies, announce the
world’s first eight-layer 3D IC wafer stack containing active
logic. The transistor and interconnect densities per cubic mm are
far higher than achievable with 2D 14nm silicon fabrication,
promising to accelerate high-performance computing and put Moore's
Law back on track, potentially saving the industry billions of
dollars.
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Tezzaron's 8-wafer stack contains active
CMOS circuitry and tungsten vertical interconnect (SuperContacts).
Wafers are 20 cm thick; SuperContacts are 1.2µm diameter, 6µm deep,
and can be deployed at a pitch of 2.4µm. (Photo: Business Wire)
“Passive wafer stacks have been built in labs, but this is the
first time wafers containing actual circuitry have been stacked
eight high,” says Bob Patti, founder and CTO of Tezzaron. “And they
were stacked in a manufacturing facility, not a lab.”
The stack represents the densest 3D IC ever reported. Each wafer
has 10 layers of copper interconnect supporting high performance
CMOS logic – a total of 80 layers of interconnect and 8 layers of
transistors in a finished stack as thin as a single conventional
die.
The wafers were bonded with DBI® technology, invented by
Ziptronix and now available from Tessera. Paul Enquist, VP at
Tessera, congratulated Tezzaron/Novati, the first licensee of the
technology for 3D memory applications: “This milestone clearly
demonstrates the enabling capability of DBI® to achieve transistor
scale 3D interconnect pitch with Tezzaron’s SuperContact™
technology, which we believe has an iterative capability beyond
eight layers.”
Tezzaron’s IC design and fabrication technology creates true 3D
integrated circuits. There are no wire bonds, copper pillars,
bumps, or underfill between the layers. It is not a 3D packaging
technology that stacks 2D dies into 3D assemblies. Instead, the
wafers are bonded directly, wafer-to-wafer, producing devices that
can be finished to the same thickness as conventional 2D dies. The
result is excellent electrical, thermal, and mechanical
performance.
Each wafer in the finished stack is only 20μm thick. This allows
vertical interconnect through the stack to be extremely dense and
electrically unobtrusive, capable of carrying very small and fast
signals. Tezzaron uses 1.2μm diameter tungsten SuperContacts™
rather than conventional copper TSVs. SuperContacts can be used at
a 2.4μm pitch with no required keep-out zones near active
transistors, so densities can exceed 170 thousand vertical
connections per square mm. This is 350 times more dense than
state-of-the-art copper TSV vertical interconnect.
“The extravagant interconnect is very significant,” says Bob
Patti. “We can completely reconfigure any circuit and integrate it
tightly in all three dimensions for superior performance at
one-tenth the power.”
“This is another great milestone for the world-class
nanomanufacturing at Novati,” said David Anderson, President and
CEO of Novati. “The 3D technologies being installed by Tezzaron are
available to all of our customers. Our successes with Tezzaron’s
cutting-edge products are inspiring our 3D customers to push
forward even faster.”
About Tezzaron:
Tezzaron Semiconductor Corporation is a world leader in the
design and production of 3D-ICs, including high-performance memory
and sensor arrays, with unrivaled performance and unprecedented low
power. Tezzaron is the world’s only turnkey 2.5D and 3D SOC
supplier offering both design and fabrication.
http://www.Tezzaron.com
About Novati:
Recently awarded Innovator of the Year by EETimes and Electrical
Design News, and recipient of the Contract Manufacturing Innovation
Award by Electronic Components News, Novati Technologies is the
premier facility for accelerating nanotechnology commercialization.
Novati's proven advanced technology, secure IP infrastructure, and
200mm and 300mm processing equipment enable innovative
More-than-Moore solutions. http://www.Novati-Tech.com
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150830005041/en/
Tezzaron Semiconductor CorporationGretchen Patti,
+1-630-505-0404 x109gpatti@tezzaron.comorCardinal Communications
for Novati TechnologiesScott Stevens,
+1-512-288-4050Scottstevens512@gmail.com