This week at the IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) symposium, a representative of IBM made a report on the creation of insulating materials with better properties than the current insulators of silicon nitride (SiN). Two new materials in its composition except silicon and nitride contain either carbon and boron (SiBCN), or oxygen and carbon (SiOCN). In the case of using SiN insulators, IBM believes, the parasitic capacitance will account for up to 85% of the total chip capacity. The transition to SiBCN and SiOCN films will significantly reduce this negative factor and will provide an opportunity to increase the productivity and energy efficiency of future solutions.
To assess the performance of new insulating materials for the 22-nm process technology, the company used an insulator 10 nm thick. For an experimental 7-nm chip, the thickness of the insulator is reduced to 6 nm. Interestingly, the practical implementation of new insulating materials is planned not only for the 7-nm process technology, but also for the current 14-nm process technology on the lines of GlobalFoundries. Thus, as an option, we can wait for a refined 14-nm process technology with AMD solutions with better characteristics. In the production of 5-nm semiconductors, IBM developers expect to use an absolute insulator-air gaps.
Another factor for increasing the parasitic capacitance at IBM is the edge unevenness of the connecting conductors (line edge roughness, LER). Using the example of a high-precision mathematical model, IBM showed that increasing the edge unevenness leads to the growth of parasitic capacitance, so this factor must be learned to compensate.