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Material innovation opportunities for 3D integrated circuits from a wireless application point of view

  • Materials challenges in 3D IC technology
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Abstract

The mobile revolution has enabled broad applications with a faster response, small form factors, and more data bandwidth, sensing, and processing power. The industry is pursuing three-dimensional (3D) stacked integrated circuits (ICs) in order to provide higher density interconnects between chips and/or functional blocks, which translates to enhanced system performance. These value propositions are attractive, especially for wireless applications, and will likely lead to further growth of this sector. Recent progress has been reported for development of IC stacking technologies, specifically for wireless applications. However, for full high volume deployment of 3D stacked ICs, a number of technical challenges remain, including many opportunities to be addressed by material enhancements. This article reviews the state-of-the-art technology solutions used for 3D IC stacking and highlights the material properties and remaining technology challenges required to meet the demanding specifications for high volume manufacturing of consumer devices. In particular, it focuses on the electrical (dielectrics and metallic) properties of the interconnects, the thermal and mechanical properties of the integrated components, and the ultimate component level/board level reliability characteristics.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank D.W. Kim, R. Radojcic, B. Henderson, M. Nakamoto, U. Ray, and M. Nowak for discussions of 3D IC development challenges. In addition, the author would like to thank King-Ning Tu for discussions of microbump joint metallurgy.

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  1. Qualcomm, CA, USA

    S. Q. Gu

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  1. S. Q. Gu
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Gu, S.Q. Material innovation opportunities for 3D integrated circuits from a wireless application point of view. MRS Bulletin 40, 233–241 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2015.9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2015.9

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