Power dissipation analysis for different configurations of TSVs at high (GHz) frequencies

Abstract

The paper examines the power dissipation patterns of different TSV interconnect configurations which could be employed in 3D IC. 1-TSV, 2-TSV, 3-TSV (straight line configuration, triangular configuration) and 6-TSV (rectangular configuration, hexagonal configuration) systems have been analyzed using the FEM based software Comsol Multiphysics (ver 4.2a). Co-axial variation of the TSV has been included in the analysis. The simulation results show that a single cuboidal TSV has considerably more power dissipation than a single cylindrical TSV and hence has been neglected in further analyses in favor of the cylindrical TSVs. The triangular configuration of 3-TSV system is found to have lesser power dissipation than the straight line configuration, although the peak power dissipation is more in the triangular configuration. In the case of 6-TSV system, the rectangular and hexagonal configurations have approximately same power dissipation, though the peak power dissipation is slightly higher in the case of rectangular configuration. The consequences of power dissipation patterns in multi-TSV systems for thermal mitigation are discussed. Finally it is shown that coaxial TSV outperforms cylindrical TSV in terms of power dissipation. Misalignments during fabrication process could lead to deviations from ideal co-axiality, the effect of which is also analyzed.