Author: Terry McCracken
Date: 14:48:04 10/12/01
Intel Researchers Disclose Packaging Technology Breakthrough To Enable
Billion-Transistor Processors
SANTA CLARA, Calif., October 8, 2001 - Intel Corporation today announced its
researchers have developed a new semiconductor packaging technology that will
help the company build processors with more than 1 billion transistors that will
be 10 times faster than the fastest processors today. The technology, called
"Bumpless Build-Up Layer" or BBUL packaging, takes a completely different
approach to packaging from the current practice of manufacturing the processor
die separately and later bonding it to the package. Instead, BBUL "grows" the
package around the silicon, resulting in thinner, higher-performance processors
that consume less power.
Intel believes it can begin making BBUL packaging available for commercial
products in the next five to six years.
"In order to deliver the applications that could once only be considered science
fiction, we will need to create processors that are much more powerful than
those we have today," said Dr. Gerald Marcyk, director of Intel's Components
Research Lab. "The development of BBUL technology will allow us to deliver the
performance of billion-transistor processors to computers users. It is something
that current packaging technology just can't handle."
BBUL packaging is thinner and lighter than today's chip packaging options. It
can also support multiple chips in the same package. The role of packaging is to
"house" the processor die, supply it with electricity and act as the interface
between the silicon and the rest of the computer system while protecting it from
dirt and physical dangers. Intel uses various forms of packaging to help tailor
its processors for specific applications, including using smaller, thinner
packages for mobile PCs, or packages with built-in reliability and manageability
features for servers. Packaging also plays a key role in delivering processor
performance, since it takes data into and out of the silicon core at ever-faster
speeds.
"If packaging technology does not keep up with the pace of silicon development,
it will become a limiter to processor performance," Marcyk said. "Putting fast
silicon into slow packages would be analogous to putting a Formula One engine on
a bicycle and expecting it to run like a race car."
Toward the billion-transistor processor
The first step in building high-density, super-fast processors is the design of
very fast, very small transistors. In June, Intel scientists unveiled the
world's fastest transistors, running at a blistering 1.5 Terahertz (1,500
Gigahertz), and featuring structures as thin as three atomic layers. The second
step is the development of advanced lithography technology in order to print
those transistors on a sliver of silicon. Intel has been leading the industry's
effort to develop Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which will allow Intel
to pack a billion transistors into a single processor. The third step is to
develop a processor package that can handle the transistor density and speed of
these future processors without slowing them down. This is the driving force
behind BBUL technology research.
BBUL packaging
Today, silicon chips, such as the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, are connected to
their packaging via tiny balls of solder called "bumps." These bumps make the
electrical and mechanical connections between the package and the chip. As the
frequency in future processors increases exponentially, the performance of the
bumps, the thickness of the packaging and the number of connection points become
concerns.
BBUL packaging eliminates use of these solder bumps completely. Instead of
attaching the silicon die to the package, the BBUL technique grows the package
around the silicon. High-speed copper connections are used to connect the die to
the different layers of the package. This approach reduces the thickness of the
processor package and enables the processor to run at a lower voltage -- both
key features for small, battery-operated devices such as mobile PCs or handheld
devices.
Using BBUL packaging, Intel could also create multi-chip processors, such as
server processors with two silicon cores and other supporting silicon chips
embedded into one small, high-performance package. BBUL packaging technology
could also offer a simple method to develop a "system-on-a-package" through the
use of high-speed copper lines directly located above the different pieces of
silicon. This would allow designers to more easily embed powerful computers into
such everyday objects as a car's dashboard.
Intel Labs researchers will disclose the technical details of this new packaging
technology Oct. 9 at the Advanced Metalization Conference in Montreal.
For more information on Intel packaging technology and other silicon research,
visit Intel's Silicon Showcase at www.intel.com/research/silicon.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of
computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about
Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom
Intel and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation
or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
* Third party marks and brands are the property of their respective holders.
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Backgrounder:
Bumpless Build-up Layer Packaging Technology
Intel Corporation's new technology "grows" the package around the processor
resulting in a package that is thinner than a dime and only 1mm thick.
Click photo to download a high resolution tiff image (6.1MB)
* Legal Information and Privacy Policy © 2001 Intel Corporation
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Maybe Moore's Law is behind the times?
Will we see microprocessors at 1.5 Terahertz or faster by 2010?
Terry
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