MIT, Spring 2007
6.012
Microelectronic Devices and Circuits
Charles G. Sodini
Judy Hoyt, Jing Kong
Ke Lu, Ivan Nausieda
Ravi Palakodety, Riccardo Signorelli
Lecture 1 – 6.012 Overview
• Contents:
– Overview of 6.012
• Reading Assignment:
– Howe and Sodini, Ch. 1
Overview of 6.012
• Introductory subject to microelectronic devices and circuits
• Microelectronics is the cornerstone of:
– Computer revolution
– Communications revolution
– Consumer Electronics revolution
Microelectronics:
cornerstone of computing revolution
In last 30 years, computer performance per dollar has improved
more than a million fold!
Microelectronics: cornerstone of
communications revolution
In last 20 years, communication bandwidth through a single
optical fiber has increased by ten-thousand fold.
Microelectronics: cornerstone of
consumer electronics revolution
Low power electronics enabling a variety of portable devices
Si digital microelectronics today
Take the cover off a
microprocessor. What do
you see?
• A thick web of interconnects,
many levels deep.
• High density of very small
transistors.
Intel’s Pentium IV
Interconnects
Today, as many as 7 levels
of interconnect using Cu.
Transistor size scaling
size of human blood cell
Rabies virus at
same scale
2-orders of magnitude reduction in transistor size in 30 years.
Evolution of transistor density
Moore’s Law: doubling of
transistor density every 1.5
years
4-orders of magnitude
improvement in 30 years.
2x/1.5year
Intel processors
Benefits of increasing transistor
integration
Exponential
improvements in:
• system performance
• cost-per-function,
• power-per-function, and
• system reliability.
Experimental SOI microprocessor from IBM
Clock speed
4-orders of magnitude
improvement in 30
years.
Transistor cost
3-order of
magnitude reduction
in 30 years.
Cost per function
4-order of
magnitude
reduction in 30
years.
Keys to success of digital microelectronics:
I. Silicon
• Cheap and abundant
• Amazing mechanical, chemical and electronic properties
• Probably, the material best known to humankind
Keys to success of digital microelectronics:
II. MOSFET
Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor MOSFET = switch
Field-Effect Transistor
Good gain, isolation, and speed
Modern MOSFET structure
Keys to success of digital microelectronics:
III. MOSFET scaling
MOSFET performance
improves as size is
decreased:
• Shorter switching time
• Lower power consumption
Keys to success of digital microelectronics:
IV. CMOS
CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor
• “Complementary” switch activates with V<0.
• Logic without DC power consumption.
Keys to success of digital microelectronics:
V. Microfabrication technology
• Tight integration of dissimilar
devices with good isolation
• Fabrication of extremely small
structures, precisely and
reproducibly
• High-volume manufacturing of
complex systems with high yield.
1 Gbit DRAM from IBM
Keys to success of digital microelectronics:
VI. Circuit engineering
• Simple device models that:
– are based on physics
– allow analog and digital circuit design
– permit assessment of impact of device variations on circuit performance
• Circuit design techniques that:
– are tolerant to logic level fluctuations, noise and crosstalk
– are insensitive to manufacturing variations
– require little power consumption
Content of 6.012
• Deals with microelectronic devices
– Semiconductor physics
– Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET)
– Bipolar junction transistor (BJT)
• Deals with microelectronic circuits
– Digital circuits (mainly CMOS)
– Analog circuits (BJT and MOS)
• The interaction of devices and circuits captured by models
