[021] Deep Dive Topic - Semiconductor Technologies

Modern chips are no longer “just smaller.” They’re built as 3D systems: memory stacked on logic, multiple chiplets stitched together in advanced packages, power delivered through the backside of the wafer, and—sometimes—data moved with light instead of copper. This episode tours the core technologies reshaping how high-performance processors are designed and manufactured.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

- HBM boosts bandwidth by stacking DRAM and using a very wide, short electrical interface near the compute die.

- Next-gen GDDR boosts bandwidth by pushing much higher per-pin signaling over longer board traces, trading cost for harder signal integrity.

- Advanced packaging has become part of architecture: interposers, bridges, fan-out, and true 3D stacking are performance tools now.

- Chiplets improve yield and modularity, but shift the bottleneck to die-to-die interconnect and package-level thermal design.

- Backside power delivery separates power routing from signal routing to relieve congestion and improve power integrity—at the cost of process complexity.

- Gate-all-around nanosheets improve electrostatic control beyond FinFETs, enabling further logic scaling.

- 2D materials like MoS2 and WSe2 look promising as ultra-thin channels, but manufacturable integration is still a major hurdle.

- Optical interconnects and silicon photonics can cut the pain of long, high-bandwidth copper links, but electrical–optical conversion and packaging are the “optics tax.”

GLOSSARY

- HBM (High Bandwidth Memory): 3D-stacked DRAM with a very wide interface for high bandwidth and good energy efficiency.

- GDDR: High-speed graphics DRAM used on PCBs; bandwidth scales mainly by higher per-pin data rates.

- TSV (Through-Silicon Via): Vertical conductor through a die, enabling dense 3D connections in stacked devices.

- 2.5D Packaging: Side-by-side dies connected by an interposer or bridge that provides very dense routing.

- 3D Stacking: Vertical die integration; can be memory-on-logic or logic-on-logic.

- Hybrid Bonding: Direct copper-to-copper (and oxide-to-oxide) bonding for very fine-pitch vertical interconnects.

- Chiplet: A modular die used as a building block in a larger package-level system.

- Backside Power Delivery: Power routing moved to the wafer backside to improve power integrity and free front-side routing resources.

- GAA (Gate-All-Around): Transistor architecture where the gate surrounds the channel for strong electrostatic control.

- Silicon Photonics: Optical components integrated with silicon manufacturing to enable high-bandwidth optical links near chips.

This article was created with the help of AI. AI can make mistakes. Please verify the information if you intend to use it as a basis for your decision-making.