Article | REF: M14 V2

Metallurgy for silicon-based microelectronics

Authors: Dominique MANGELINCK, Olivier THOMAS

Publication date: July 10, 2020

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


Overview

Français

ABSTRACT

Microelectronics relies on the assembly of billions of transistors on the same chip and is based on very complex technologies which have been developed since the 1960s. The resulting increase in speed and power of information processing is at the origin of the digital revolution. We often forget that this development is largely based on the mastery of materials and especially metals and their derivatives, whether in the engineering of diffusion barriers or in those of metallic interconnections. The purpose of this article is to recall through a few examples the essential contribution of metallurgy to the development of this industrial sector.

Read this article from a comprehensive knowledge base, updated and supplemented with articles reviewed by scientific committees.

Read the article

AUTHORS

  • Dominique MANGELINCK: CNRS Research Director, Materials Institute, - Microelectronics Nanosciences of Provence IM2NP, Marseille, France

  • Olivier THOMAS: Professor at the University of Aix Marseille, Materials Institute, - Microelectronics Nanosciences of Provence IM2NP, Marseille, France - This article is an updated reprint of the article entitled "Metallurgy for silicon-based microelectronics" published in 2011, written by Yves BRECHET, Dominique MANGELINCK, Jean PHILIBERT and Olivier THOMAS.

 INTRODUCTION

The mastery of materials is an essential component in the development of microelectronics. The first transistor could only be made when a semiconductor of sufficient purity (initially germanium, then silicon) was produced, using a purification technique called "zone reflow", invented... by a metallurgist. In today's context of component miniaturization, it is essential to study new processes and materials, many of which consist of metals and their derivatives. The need to develop gradients in chemical composition, which must not change over time, calls for increasingly effective diffusion barriers. The metal interconnections that carry the current must have ever-lower resistivities, which means that structural defects must be perfectly controlled. Connectivity problems require control of the entire range of welding technologies. The current densities involved and the reduction in scales make heat elimination a major challenge, requiring the development of new materials. There is no area of microelectronics materials that can do without a good knowledge of metallurgy. In this article, we confine ourselves to metallurgy for silicon-based microelectronics; we do not deal with research in the fields of optoelectronics, electromagnetics, microwaves and antennas, even though these issues are linked to those of microelectronics. The involvement of metallurgy in this industrial sector is therefore even more essential than the few examples used here might suggest.

At the end of the article, readers will find a glossary and a table of acronyms.

You do not have access to this resource.

Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference

A Comprehensive Knowledge Base, with over 1,200 authors and 100 scientific advisors
+ More than 10,000 articles and 1,000 how-to sheets, over 800 new or updated articles every year
From design to prototyping, right through to industrialization, the reference for securing the development of your industrial projects

KEYWORDS

metallurgy   |   microelectronics   |   transistors


This article is included in

Electronics

This offer includes:

Knowledge Base

Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees

Services

A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources

Practical Path

Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills

Doc & Quiz

Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading

Subscribe now!

Ongoing reading
Metallurgy for silicon-based microelectronics