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To: Jules V who wrote (42626)	12/18/1997
From: Joe NYC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Jules, Is that the current issue of the Scientific American? Joe

To: Jules V who wrote (42626)	12/18/1997 2:48:00 AM
From: Paul Engel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Jules - Re: " Is it any different from IBM's. I found it fascinating that they say "air bubbles" in the film will insulate. At the geometries discussed these would have to be pretty small bubbles wouldn't they." This insulator is called Xerogel - which is submicron hollow glass (SiO2) spheres with air inside. The dielectric constant of conventional SiO2 is about 3.9. I think the Xerogel has a dielectric constant of about 2.5 to 2.7. For reference, air has a dielectric constant of about 1.0. Reducing the dielectic constant of the insulating material surrounding metal conductors is imperative to reduce parasitic capacitances between conductors from one level to another and fringing capacitance between adjacent conductors. As adjacent conductors become more closely spaced, the fringing capacitance increases dramatically - hence circuits slow down because they have to drive these higher parasitic capacitive loads. Reducing these capacitances (by switching to lower dielectric constant materials) is essential to improving speeds. By the way, TI is not the only company making major strides in reducing the dielectric constant of ILDs (Inter-Level Dielectrics). Paul