Film treatment cuts power, boosts dielectric stiffness
In a move that is said to make on chip interconnects more robust and reduces their power consumption, Applied Materials has announced the Producer Onyx film treatment system. The announcement is said to help chip manufacturers create more power efficient parts at the 22nm node and beyond.
"Interconnect represents approximately one third of the total power consumed by a chip and reducing this power is essential to achieving higher performance and longer battery life in advanced logic devices," said Bill McClintock, general manager of Applied's Dielectric Systems and Modules business unit. "With Onyx, we're offering a treatment capability that delivers the most power efficient interconnects in the industry, while increasing mechanical strength, making the chip robust to better withstand the challenge of emerging 3d packaging applications."
The approach allows carbon and silicon atoms to be driven into the dielectric film, reinforcing it at the atomic level. According to Applied, this decreases the K value by up to 20%, reducing chip power consumption, while increasing the dielectric's stiffness, enabling it to withstand the stress of subsequent process and packaging steps.
