Analysis of high-speed signal behavior in a miniaturized interconnect

Precise interconnect analysis is strongly required for giga-scale integration the operation frequency of which is excess 10 GHz. In this study, detailed and accurate analyses of a coaxial interconnect and an actual rectangular interconnect have been performed by the direct evaluation of Maxwell's equations and the finite element method, respectively. It has been revealed that there are two propagation modes for LSI interconnects: skin depth limited propagation mode and interconnect induced slow wave mode. In a miniaturized interconnect, the propagation mode is the interconnect induced slow wave mode; therefore, we cannot obtain the light-speed propagation due to such an interconnect-induced effect. In order to overcome this speed limitation or to improve signal integrity, it is essential to introduce a short interconnect for a miniaturized structure, and a much larger interconnect than the skin depth. We propose a gas-isolated interconnect as a candidate for an ultimately low-k structure in order to increase the signal-propagation speed. By the introduction of such structures, the performance of miniaturized devices in the deep submicron region will be effectively enhanced.