The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device having stacked semiconductor chips.
As a method for forming a semiconductor integrated circuit on a semiconductor substrate, a standard cell method is known. The standard cell method is a method in which basic units (e.g., inverters, latches, flipflops, and full adders) having specific logical functions are prepared in advance as standard cells, and a plurality of such standard cells are placed on a semiconductor substrate and connected through interconnects, thereby designing an LSI chip.
For higher integration of a semiconductor integrated circuit, it is proposed to use, for standard cells, interconnects laid in a buried interconnect layer, not interconnects laid in a metal interconnect layer formed above transistors as conventionally done.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,170,413 (FIG. 2C) discloses a technique of using interconnects laid in a buried interconnect layer not only as power lines (buried power rails (BPRs)) but also as signal lines. U.S. Pat. No. 10,872,818 discloses a technique of connecting buried power rails to a chip back face by way of through silicon vias (TSVs).
In the cited patent documents, however, no disclosure has been made on how to connect signal lines formed in a main chip to the chip back face.
An objective of the present disclosure is providing, in a semiconductor integrated circuit device having stacked semiconductor chips, an easily-manufacturable and reliable configuration of connecting signal lines formed in a main chip to the chip back face.
According to the first mode of the present disclosure, a semiconductor integrated circuit device includes: a first semiconductor chip; and a second semiconductor chip stacked on the first semiconductor chip, wherein a back face of the first semiconductor chip and a principal face of the second semiconductor chip are opposed to each other, the first semiconductor chip includes a plurality of standard cells, a first power line laid in a buried interconnect layer, extending in a first direction and supplying a first power supply voltage to the plurality of standard cells, a second power line laid in the buried interconnect layer, extending in the first direction, placed adjacently to the first power line in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and supplying a second power supply voltage to the plurality of standard cells, a first contact provided between the first power line and the back face of the first semiconductor chip, a second contact provided between the second power line and the back face of the first semiconductor chip, and a third contact provided between a signal line connected to any of the plurality of standard cells and the back face of the first semiconductor chip, and the third contact is located between the first power line and the second power line in the second direction and at a position different from positions of the first and second contacts in the first direction, in planar view.
According to the above mode, the first and second semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other with the back face of the first semiconductor chip opposed to the principal face of the second semiconductor chip. The first semiconductor chip includes the first and second power lines formed in the buried interconnect layer, extending in the first direction, and adjoining each other in the second direction. The first semiconductor chip also includes the first and second contacts provided between the first and second power lines and the chip back face, and the third contact provided between the signal line and the chip back face. The third contact is formed between the first and second power lines in the second direction, and at a position different from the positions of the first and second contacts in the first direction, in planar view. Therefore, the spacing between the third contact and the first and second contacts can be sufficiently secured, and thus even when the size of the third contact in planar view is made large, the manufacture can be easy and the reliability can be secured.
According to the second mode of the present disclosure, a semiconductor integrated circuit device includes: a first semiconductor chip; and a second semiconductor chip stacked on the first semiconductor chip, wherein a back face of the first semiconductor chip and a principal face of the second semiconductor chip are opposed to each other, the first semiconductor chip includes a plurality of standard cells, a first power line laid in a buried interconnect layer, extending in a first direction, and supplying a first power supply voltage to the plurality of standard cells, a second power line laid in the buried interconnect layer, extending in the first direction, placed adjacently to the first power line in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and supplying a second power supply voltage to the plurality of standard cells, a first contact provided between the first power line and the back face of the first semiconductor chip, a second contact provided between the second power line and the back face of the first semiconductor chip, and a third contact provided between a signal line connected to any of the plurality of standard cells and the back face of the first semiconductor chip, and the third contact has its center position located between a center position of the first contact and a center position of the second contact in the second direction, and is at a position different from positions of the first and second contacts in the first direction, in planar view.
According to the above mode, the first and second semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other with the back face of the first semiconductor chip opposed to the principal face of the second semiconductor chip. The first semiconductor chip includes the first and second power lines formed in the buried interconnect layer, extending in the first direction, and adjoining each other in the second direction. The first semiconductor chip also includes the first and second contacts provided between the first and second power lines and the chip back face, and the third contact provided between the signal line and the chip back face. The third contact has a center position located between the center position of the first contact and the center position of the second contact in the second direction, and is at a position different from the positions of the first and second contacts in the first direction, in planar view. Therefore, the spacing between the third contact and the first and second contacts can be sufficiently secured, and thus even when the size of the third contact in planar view is made large, the manufacture can be easy and the reliability can be secured.
According to the present disclosure, in a semiconductor integrated circuit device having stacked semiconductor chips, it is possible to implement an easily-manufacturable and reliable configuration of connecting signal lines formed in a main chip to the chip back face.
An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that, in the following description, in the plan views such as
In the first semiconductor chip 101, buried power lines 11 supplying VDD to the standard cells SC and buried power lines 12 supplying VSS to the standard cells SC extend in the X direction. The buried power lines 11 and the buried power lines 12 are arranged alternately in the Y direction, and the standard cells SC are each placed between the buried power line 11 and the buried power line 12, receiving VDD from the buried power line 11 and VSS from the buried power line 12.
In the second semiconductor chip 102, power lines 21 supplying VDD and power lines 22 supplying VSS extend in the Y direction in the first metal interconnect layer. The power lines 21 and 22 are each paired, arranged side by side with a predetermined spacing between them in the X direction. A power line 25 supplying VDD and a power line 26 supplying VSS extend in the X direction in the second metal interconnect layer. The power lines 21 are connected to the power line 25 through contacts, and the power lines 22 are connected to the power line 26 through contacts.
In the first semiconductor chip 101, power cells 31 are formed at positions overlapping the power lines 21 and 22 of the second semiconductor chip 102 in planar view. The power cells 31 are arranged in line in the Y direction, and each have a TSV 41 for VDD and a TSV 42 for VSS. The buried power lines 11 of the first semiconductor chip 101 and the power lines 21 of the second semiconductor chip 102 are connected through the TSVs 41. The buried power lines 12 of the first semiconductor chip 101 and the power lines 22 of the second semiconductor chip 102 are connected through the TSVs 42. The configuration of the power cells 31 will be described in detail later.
As is found from the cross-sectional view of
In the block layout of
Also, in the block layout of
In the cell SCA, which has the TSV 51 for an output signal, a signal is output to the second semiconductor chip 102 through the TSV 51. In the cell SCB, which has the TSV 52 for an input signal and the TSV 53 for an output signal, a signal is input from the second semiconductor chip 102 through the TSV 52, and a signal is output to the second semiconductor chip 102 through the TSV 53. In the cell SCC, which has the TSV 54 for an input signal, a signal is input from the second semiconductor chip 102 through the TSV 54. The TSV 51 of the cell SCA is connected to the TSV 52 of the cell SCB through interconnects and contacts in the second semiconductor chip 102. The TSV 53 of the cell SCB is connected to the TSV 54 of the cell SCC through interconnects and contacts in the second semiconductor chip 102.
In the cell SCD, the TSV 55 is provided for signal transmission between the first semiconductor chip 101 and the second semiconductor chip 102. In the cell SCE, the TSV 56 is provided for output of an intermediate signal to the second semiconductor chip 102, and the TSV 57 is provided for input of the intermediate signal from the second semiconductor chip 102. The TSVs 56 and 57 are mutually connected through interconnects and contacts in the second semiconductor chip 102. In the cell SCF, the TSV 58 is provided for an intermediate node signal.
Details of the configurations of the standard cells SCA, SCB, SCC, SCD, SCE, and SCF will be described later.
Note that, in the block layout of
Also, the TSVs 51 to 58 for signal are placed between the buried power lines 11 and 12 in the Y direction, and the center positions of the TSVs 51 to 58 are different from the center positions of the TSVs 41 and 42 for power in the Y direction. This can avoid the TSVs for signal from becoming shorted with the buried power lines. This can also avoid a possibility that the buried power lines may be cut off due to the presence of the TSVs for signal thereby weakening the power supply wiring network.
If the size of TSVs can be made small, TSVs may be placed in normal standard cells to correspond to the buried power lines as appropriate. Since this eliminates the necessity of providing exclusive power cells, reduction in the area of the semiconductor integrated circuit device can be achieved. In this case, TSVs may just be arranged so that TSVs for VDD be lined in the Y direction and TSVs for VSS be lined in the Y direction, as in the block layout of FIG. 2. Note that the power cells and normal cells having a TSV for power may be placed in a mixed manner.
The cells SCA, SCB, and SCC shown in
As shown in
As shown in
INV2. The TSV 52 is connected to an M1 interconnect 112, which is connected to the input A of the inverter INV2, through local interconnects 122a and 122b. The TSV 53 is connected to an M1 interconnect 113, which is connected to the output Y of the inverter INV2, through local interconnects 123a and 123b. The TSVs 52 and 53 each have an overlap with transistors constituting the inverter INV2 in the Y direction.
As shown in
The cell SCD shown in
The cells SCE and SCF shown in
Specifically, as shown in
In the cell SCE shown in
As shown in
In the cell SCF shown in
Note that the cell SCD shown in
As is found from the cross-sectional view of
The standard cells having a TSV for signal described in this embodiment can be used as cells for clock signal propagation, for example. As an example, thick lines may be provided as lines for clock signal in the second semiconductor chip 102 in addition to the power lines, and the TSVs for signal in the first semiconductor chip 101 may be connected to such lines for clock signal. Therefore, since a clock signal can be transmitted through low-resistance lines, low-delay and low-skew distribution of the clock can be achieved.
As described above, according to this embodiment, the first semiconductor chip 101 and the second semiconductor chip 102 are stacked one upon the other with the back face of the first semiconductor chip 101 opposed to the principal face of the second semiconductor chip 102. The first semiconductor chip 101 includes the buried power lines 11 and 12 extending in the X direction and adjoining each other in the Y direction. The first semiconductor chip 101 also includes the TSVs 41 and 42 for power provided between the power lines 11 and 12 and the chip back face and the TSVs 51 to 58 for signal provided between the signal lines and the chip back face. The TSVs 51 to 58 for signal are located between the power lines 11 and 12 in the Y direction, and at positions different from the positions of the TSVs 41 and 42 for power in the X direction, in planar view. Also, the TSVs 51 to 58 for signal have their center positions located between the center positions of the TSVs 41 and 42 for power in the Y direction, and are at positions different from the positions of the TSVs 41 and 42 for power in the X direction, in planar view. Therefore, the spacing between the TSVs 51 to 58 for signal and the TSVs 41 and 42 for power can be sufficiently secured, and thus even when the size of the TSVs 51 to 58 for signal in planar view is made large, the manufacture can be easy and the reliability can be secured.
In the embodiment described above, the TSVs for signal are connected to the local interconnects formed above. Instead, the TSVs for signal may be connected to buried interconnects formed above.
In the cell shown in
According to the present disclosure, in a semiconductor integrated circuit device having stacked semiconductor chips, it is possible to implement an easily-manufacturable and reliable configuration of connecting signal lines formed in a main chip to the chip back face. The present disclosure is therefore useful for cost reduction of LSI.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2021-205195 | Dec 2021 | JP | national |
This is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/JP2022/044248 filed on Nov. 30, 2022, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-205195 filed on Dec. 17, 2021. The entire disclosures of these applications are incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2022/044248 | Nov 2022 | WO |
Child | 18738947 | US |