EE 4611 INTRODUCTION, 13 January 2016 Semiconductor Industry Milestones Very pure silicon and germanium were manufactured PN junction diodes was invented The junction transistor was invented at Bell Lab by Bardeen, Brattain and Schockley Integrated circuits (ICs) were invented by Kilby at TI First commercial integrated circuits Semiconductor industry surpasses $1-billion in sales First MOS IC CMOS initial development Moore’s law presented by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore Microprocessor initial development Semiconductor Industry passes $10-billion Intel 80386DX mm silicon wafers introduced Mbit DRAM Mbit DRAM Intel 80486DXTM 1990’s-2000’s Intel Pentium Series Intel demonstrated the first working 32 nm processor 2012/15 – Micron 14 nm memory
Moore’s Law Number of transistors on a chip roughly double every 18 months Has been true since 1970 and shows no signs of slowing World's first 2-billion transistor microprocessor (Intel Itanium processor) is announced in February
Device Becomes Ever Smaller Smaller feather size leads to more transistors per unit area (high density) and higher speed Intel demonstrated the first working 32 nm processor in feature sizes 22 nm, advanced R&D to 14 nm January 2013 IEEE Spectrum 3-D “FinFET” R&D by INTEL and others 6
Semiconductor Materials Periodic table of semiconductors Elements: Si, Ge III-V compounds: AlAs, GaAs, InAs, InP II-VI compounds: CdS, CdSe, ZnS, Si is today’s most important semiconductor material ― Low cost ― easily oxidized to form SiO 2 insulating layer ― High Eg, can be used in high temperature GaAs and InP are used for optoelectronic applications 11
Semiconductor Industry Development Trend 12 Ways to achieve: Better quality of fabrication materials, e.g., very pure semiconductors and large single crystals New materials (such as graphene, carbon nano tube) New design concepts and new theories on semiconductor physics New fabrication technology Micro- and nano- technology Energy efficient devices New theory Trend: smaller, faster, and cheaper
OTHER DEVICES AND TECHNOLOGIES èThin-Film Transistors (TFT) for displays and cameras èDisplays-Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD), Plasma, LED Backlit, etc. Television, computer, and smart phone screens èPhotonic-Light Emitting Diodes (LED), Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED), LASERS, Optical Chips, etc.), Lighting èPhotovoltaics-Conventional Crystalline and Flexible Thin-Film èDevices and Systems on Flexible Substrates. Next generation of smart phones èMicro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through microfabrication technology. Automotive, medical, personal electronics
Challenges in the Semiconductor Industry For EE Graduates èDesign devices èDesign circuits and systems èDevice modeling èSystem design and fabrication èCircuit/system simulations èTestability èMaterials èHow small? Nanomaterials? èHow large? Wafer scale VLSI èSpeed and performance, for analog, digital and mixed-mode applications èIncreased functionality èBiological integration èOptoelectronic integration èDisplays èSensors èMEMs (Design/Application) èNon-traditional substrates èPackaging èProcess development èProcess Control è“Tool” and plant design è“Cradle to grave materials handling”