International Business Machines Corporation

John Greg Massey

Nazmul Habib

Emmanuel Yashchin

Pascal A Nsame

Ernest Y Wu

Carole D Graas

Deborah M Massey

William Vincent Huott

K Paul Muller

David S Wolpert

Kevin W Kark

David L Rude

Takashi Ando

Eduard Albert Cartier

Paul Charles Jamison

Michael S Gordon

Kenneth Parker Rodbell

Kanak Behari Agarwal

Alvin Wayne Strong

Jerry D Hayes

Peter A Smith

Akil Khamisi Sutton

William Edward Ansley

Ping-Chuan Wang

Kisik Choi

Glen Arthur Wiedemeier

Charles J Montrose

Giuseppe La Rosa

Kevin W Kolvenbach

Stewart E Rauch, Iii

Kai Xiu

Scott J McAllister

Embodiments include thermally coupled aware device placement in the schematic design stage of the development of an integrated circuit. Aspects of the invention include obtaining a schematic design of a macro, the schematic design including a plurality of devices disposed within the macro. Aspects also include determining an initial temperature for each of the plurality of devices, where the initial temperature due to self-heating. Aspects further include determining, iteratively for each of the plurality of devices, an uplift temperature, where the uplift temperature for a first device of the plurality of devices is determined based on the initial temperature of each of the other plurality of devices and a distance between the first device and each of the other plurality of devices as encoded in the schematic design. Aspects also include modifying the schematic design of the macro based on a determination that the uplift temperature of at least one of the plurality of devices is above a threshold value.

Thermally coupled aware device placement

Embodiments are for using adaptive fill techniques to avoid electromigration, thereby resulting in electromigration signoff. A wire segment failing to meet an electromigration current limit is determined on an integrated circuit (IC). Fill shapes are connected adjacent to the wire segment to cause the wire segment to meet the electromigration current limit. The fill shapes are non-functional shapes on the IC.

Adaptive fill techniques for avoiding electromigration

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a back-end-of-line (BEOL) compatible metal-insulator-metal on-chip decoupling capacitor (MIMCAP). This BEOL compatible process includes a thermal treatment for inducing an amorphous-to-cubic phase change in the insulating layer of the MIM stack prior to forming the top electrode. In a non-limiting embodiment of the invention, a bottom electrode layer is formed, and an insulator layer is formed on a surface of the bottom electrode layer. The insulator layer can include an amorphous dielectric material. The insulator layer is thermally treated such that the amorphous dielectric material undergoes a cubic phase transition, thereby forming a cubic phase dielectric material. A top electrode layer is formed on a surface of the cubic phase dielectric material of the insulator layer.

Back-end-of-line compatible metal-insulator-metal on-chip decoupling capacitor

A semiconductor structure, and a method of making the same includes a multiple electrode stacked capacitor containing a sequence of first metal layers interleaved with second metal layers. A quad-layer stack separates each of the first metal layers from each of the second metal layers, the quad-layer dielectric stack includes a first dielectric layer made of AlO, a second dielectric layer made of HfO, a third dielectric layer made of AlO, and a fourth dielectric layer made of HfO.

Quad-layer high-k for metal-insulator-metal capacitors

A per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor resides in an integrated circuit. The per-chip EOT circuit sensor determines electrical characteristics of the integrated circuit. The measured electrical characteristics include leakage current. The determined electrical characteristics are used to determine physical attributes of the integrated circuit. The physical attributes, including EOT, are used in a reliability model to predict per-chip failure rate.

Optimization of integrated circuit reliability

A radiation exposure system having a beam source is provided. The system further includes a variable thickness degrader, positioned between the beam source and an object to be exposed, for providing varying degrees of degradation to a radiation beam emitted from the beam source onto the object. The system also includes a set of detectors, positioned between the variable thickness degrader and the object, for receiving and measuring only a portion of the radiation beam remaining after the degradation of the radiation beam by the variable thickness degrader.

Real time X-ray dosimeter using diodes with variable thickness degrader

A system for providing error detection or correction on a data bus includes one or more caches coupled to a central processing unit and to a hub by one or more buses. The system also includes a plurality of arrays, each array disposed on one of the buses. Each of the arrays includes a plurality of storage cells disposed in an insensitive direction and an error control mechanism configured to detect an error in the plurality of storage cells.

Error protection for a data bus

A method for providing error detection and/or correction to an array of storage cells includes determining a sensitive direction and an insensitive direction of the storage cells and adding a first error control mechanism to the array of storage cells in the insensitive direction. The method also includes adding a second error control mechanism to the array of storage cells in the sensitive direction. The second error control mechanism has a higher Hamming distance than the first error control mechanism.

Error protection for integrated circuits

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Jericho, VT, United States of America

John Greg Massey