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Technology Stocks : Advanced Micro Devices - Moderated (AMD)
AMD 217.91+0.9%Dec 5 9:30 AM EST
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To: semiconeng who wrote (73625)3/6/2002 12:40:58 AM
From: PetzRead Replies (3) of 275872
 
re:<Transistors are not built on a First Layer at all. It takes multiple layers>

What I am simplistically calling the "First Layer" is, in fact a 3D multi-LEVEL structure of p and n-doped silicon and insulation.

I understand that the gates of the transistors are on one level while the sources and drains are on another, but I'm not sure you can properly call the 3-D structure to be "layers" of silicon, since most of each "layer" is the insulator.

However, the complex, multi-level structure of the transistors only makes the gist of my post more true -- that the number of process steps required to build the transistors greatly exceeds the number of process steps needed to build a single interconnect layer. Therefore, going from six to nine metallization layers does not increase the number of process steps, or the time to build the chip, by anything close to 50%.

And your assertion that having more layers available to route the signals will not reduce the average path length is absurd. It may be that the Clawhammer design required 9 interconnect layers, but automated tools can certainly be utilized to route interconnections on the nine layers to optimize average path length, resistance, capacitance or any combination of the above, while following a long list of constraints.

Having additional layers available for routing can not possibly increase the path length.

Petz
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