Interconnect thermal modeling for accurate simulation of circuit timing and reliability

Author

Chen, Danqing ; Li, Erhong ; Rosenbaum, Elyse ; Kang, Sung-Mo

Author_Institution

Technol. CAD, Intel Corp., Hillsboro, OR, USA

Volume

19

Issue

2

fYear

2000

fDate

2/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

197

Lastpage

205

Abstract

We apply three-dimensional finite element analysis to study the thermal coupling between nearby interconnects. We find that the temperature rise in current-carrying lines is significantly influenced by a dense array of lines in a nearby metal level. In contrast, thermal coupling between just two neighboring parallel lines is insignificant for most geometries. Design rules for average root-mean-square current density are provided for specific geometries given the requirement that the interconnect temperature be no more than 5°C above the substrate temperature. Semi-empirical formulae for coupling effects are presented based on the numerical results. A procedure is proposed to implement the formulae in computer-aided design tools

Keywords

circuit layout CAD; current density; finite element analysis; integrated circuit interconnections; integrated circuit layout; integrated circuit modelling; integrated circuit reliability; thermal analysis; thermal resistance; timing; 3D finite element analysis; CAD tools; average root-mean-square current density; circuit timing; computer-aided design tools; current-carrying lines; dense array; design rules; interconnect thermal modeling; reliability; temperature rise; thermal coupling; three-dimensional FEM; Analytical models; Circuit simulation; Coupling circuits; Current density; Finite element methods; Geometry; Integrated circuit interconnections; Solid modeling; Temperature dependence; Timing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0278-0070

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/43.828548

Filename

828548