A Modified Model for the Self Inductance of Metal Lines on Si

The effects of the self inductance associated with interconnection lines in integrated circuits have become extremely important when judging the performance of RF circuits, and thus, its modeling and characterization is an ongoing effort worldwide. This paper aims to contribute to this effort, proposing a modified model that is both simple and physically based, to calculate the self inductance of the metal lines used in modern IC designs. Most of the published models and techniques were analyzed and compared to experimental data, and one of these was modified to take into account the rectangular geometry of interconnect lines, showing a much better agreement with experiment. Interconnect lines designed for this purpose were fabricated using a standard CMOS process (AMIS 0.35 mum), and measured in the frequency range from 40 MHz to 50 GHz.