LINEARINTEGRATEDCIRCUITS

CLASSIFICATIONOFINTEGRATEDCIRCUITS
Isolationtechnique
Metallization
Dr. R. Ramaprabha (Sec A)

HowIntegratedcircuitsweremade?
Integratedcircuitsweremadepossibleby
experimentaldiscoverieswhichshowedthat
semiconductordevicescouldperformthe
functionsofvacuumtubes.Theintegrationof
largenumbersoftinytransistorsintoasmall
chipwasanenormousimprovementoverthe
manualassemblyofcircuitsusingdiscrete
electroniccomponents.

WhatareIntegratedcircuits?
Icisaminiature,lowcostelectroniccircuit
consistingofactiveandpassivecomponents
thatarejoinedtogetheronasinglecrystal
chipofslicicon

Advantages
ThemainadvantagesofICsoverdiscrete
circuits:
Cost islowbecausethechips,withalltheir
components,areprintedasaunitby
photolithography.
Performance ishighsincethecomponents
switchquickly,becausethecomponentsare
smallandclosetogether.

Continued...
Miniaturizationandhenceincreased
equipmentdensity
Increasedoperatingspeeds
Reductioninpowerconsumption.
Chipareasrangefromafewsqmmtoaround
350sqmm,withupto1milliontransistors
persqmm.

CLASSIFICATION
ICscanbebroadlyclassifiedbasedontheir
applicationsas
DigitalICs
LinearICs
Basedupontheaboverequirementstwo
differentICtechnologiesnamelyMonolithic
technologyandHybridtechnologyhavebeen
developed

Broadclassification
Integrated Circuits

Monolithic Circuits

Bipolar

Unipolar

MOSFET
P-n Junction Isolation

Hybrid Circuits

Dielectric Isolation

JFET

SomeICS

MonolithicIntegratedCircuits
Inmonolithicintegratedcircuitsallcircuit
components(bothactiveandpassive
elementsandtheirinterconnections)are
manufacturedintoortopofasinglechipof
silicon.
Themonolithiccircuitisidealforapplication
whereidenticalcircuitsarerequiredinvery
largequantitiesandandhenceprovieds
lowestpriceper unitcostandhighestorder
ofreliability

Continued...
MMICs,orMonolithicMicrowaveIntegrated
Circuits,areatypeofICdevicesthatoperate
atmicrowavefrequencies(1GHzto300GHz).
MMICsaremostoftenfabricatedusingIIIIV
elementssuchasGalliumarsenide,Indium
PhosphideorSiliconGermanium

Hybridcircuit

Continued..
AHybridIntegratedCircuit,HybridCircuit,or
simplyHybrid isaminiaturizedelectronic
circuitconstructedusingindividualdevices,
suchassemiconductordevices(e.g.transistors
anddiodes)andpassivecomponents(e.g.
resistors,inductorsandcapacitors),bondedto
asubstrateorPCB

Continued...
Inhybridcircuit,separatecomponentparts
areattachedtoaceramicsubstrateand
interconnectedbymeansofeither
metallizationpatternorwirebond
Thistechnologyismoreadaptabletosmall
quantitycustomcircuits.

ISOLATIONTECHNIQUE
DEFINITION:
Itisthetechniquedonetoelectricallyisolate
componentsfabricatedonthesameICchip
TYPES:
*PNJUNCTIONISOLATION
*DIELECTRICISOLATION
PNJUNCTIONISOLATION

PNjunctionIsolation
*p+typeimpuritiesareselectivelydiffusedintontypeepitaxial
layer
*itformsislandssurroundedbymoatsseparatedby2backto
backpnjunctions
*Ptypesubstrateiskeptatvepotentialso,junctionsareR.B
betweentheislands
*usuallyp+iskepthigherinregionbetweentheseislandsto
preventpenetrationofdepletionregioninp+region
DISADVANTAGE:
Parasiticcapacitancethatlimitstheperformanceofcircuitat
higherfrequency

DIELECTRICISOLATION
Eachcomponentissurroundedbysolid
dielectric(eg.Sio2 orruby)providingboth
electricalandphysicalisolation
*easyfabricationofpnp and npn transistors
witinsamesiliconsubstrate
*expensive
*usedinspecialapplicationslikeaerospaceand
military

METALLIZATION
Itistheprocesstoproduceathinmetalfilmlayer
thatisusedtointerconnectvariouscomponentson
thechip
PROCESS:
*theprocesstakesplaceinthevacuum
*pressurerange106to107torr
*evaporatingmaterialisplacedinresistance
heatedtungstencoilandahighpowerbeam
isfocussedatthematerialtobeheated

Continued...
*Thematerialis
vapourisedand
travelsin
straightline
pathsandthen
condensesto
formthinfilm
coating