This technology provides a MCM substrate that is electrically programmable at the manufacuter and utilizes amorphous silicon antifuses as the connection element. It has 4 layers, two for signal, and one each for power and ground and has on-substrate resistors. As an experiment, we recently integrated a Chip Express One-Mask quick-turn ASIC die and a CD4050B die onto the substrate and tested it in a system.
For a further description of the technology, please see the report below and Pico Systems' www site.
| Laser Engery Limitations for Buried Metal Cuts | "Laser Energy Limitation for Buried Metal Cuts Joseph B. Bernstein, Yijia Hua and Wei Zhang Materials and Nuclear Engineering Department, University of Maryland Abstract Redundancy by laser cutting of polysilicon fuses has been used by the memory industry for many years. As the levels of metalization layers increases, it becomes more difficult and expensive to delete buried polysilicon lines. Ideally, metal fuses will be cut exclusively. However, to achieve reliable metal line cutting, a wide process window has to be found that can cut metal lines buried beneath the passivation layers. The upper energy limit has previously been thought to result from excess laser energy absorbed by the substrate. We show that another failure mode exists at energies far below the threshold to cause substrate damage directly. The same laser pulse which ejects the passivation and removes the metal is also likely to crack the dielectric material below the metal. Molten metal then fills the crack and maintains an electrical short circuit, preventing the line from being disconnected. |
| Book Chapter | BOOK CHAPTER from LIA Handbook Joseph B. Bernstein Materials and Nuclear Engineering Department, University of Maryland Describes laser make link technology in both lateral and vertical; useful for programmable substrates. |
| Vertical Laser Links | Laser Formed Metallic Connections Joseph B. Bernstein, Wei Zhang, and Carl H. Nicholas Materials and Nuclear Engineering Department University of Maryland at College Park joey@eng.umd.edu Abstract Solid metallic connections have been successfully formed between two standard levels of metalization using a focussed IR laser. This new process of laser formed connections has been used to link continuous chains and with resistances of less than 0.8ohm per connection. A commercial laser repair system used extensively by the memory industry was employed to perform approximately 50,000 individual links without failure. The electromigration resistance is comparable to standard metal interconnect. This technology has the potential to replace laser fuse cutting techniques to implement repair schemes and it can be used to program wiring in MCM-D or wafer scale integration applications implemented on silicon substrates. Furthermore, because it is an additive process, it lends itself to redundancy for higher yield and reliability. |
| Heavy Ion Testing | "Initial Heavy Ion Evaluation of the Pico Systems Anti-fuse Programmable Substrate", R. Katz and A. Feizi (NASA), May, 1997 (.pdf 13kbytes). Technology description and results from heavy ion testing at Brookhaven National Labs. |
| Evaluation Final Report | Pico Systems Programmable Antifuse Substrate Evaluation - Final Report, NASA/GSFC, April 18, 1997 |
| Space Applications | Flexible, Cost-effective Multichip Modules for Space Applications, A. Garrison (NASA/GSFC), et. al. |
| High-G Applications | Programmable MCMs for Low Volume, High-G Applications, L. Burke (U.S. Army Research Laboratory), et. al |
| Rapid Development - Space | Dielectric-Antifuse Based Multi-Chip Modules (MCM) For Rapid Development of Space Applications, H. Shaw (NASA), October, 1995. EEE Links Article. |
| Total Dose | Excerpts from "Total Dose Radiation Test Report for MCM Hybrid Substrate", University of Michigan's Space Physics Research Laboratory |
| KGD, MCM, Prog. Logic and Prog. Substrates | Fast Cycle Programmable High Density Electronics: Known Good Die, Multi-Chip Modules, Programmable Logic and Substrates. |
WWW Site |
Technology Description |
Technical Contact |
| Pico Technology | Four layer substrate, power, ground, and two routing layers configured electrically via amorphous silicon antifuses. Programming voltages are approximately 30 volts. | Jeffrey T. Banker Pico Technology, Inc. 2001 Commonwealth, #203 Ann Arbor, MI 48105 Tel: (734) 668-2240 Fax: (734) 668-4776 |
| PROTOTYPE Solutions Corporation | Fabricating MCM substrates and wiring plates based on U of MD/J. Berstein "laser makelink" technology. | Joey Berstein |
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Last Revised: January 09, 2002
Digital Engineering Institute
Web Grunt: Richard Katz