Advanced transistors (FinFET and GAA)

As physical scaling becomes harder, what is the practice of considering design and process technology together to optimize area and performance called?

  1. AWafer-level test
  2. BMoore's law
  3. CDTCO (design-technology co-optimization)
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Answer: C. DTCO (design-technology co-optimization)

DTCO (design-technology co-optimization) considers transistor and interconnect process technology together with design rules for standard cells, SRAM and so on, improving chip area, performance and power through measures such as reducing cell height and smarter routing. It has grown in importance at leading-edge generations, where dimensional shrinking alone is no longer enough.

  • A. Wafer-level test means testing chips while still on the wafer.
  • B. Moore's law is an empirical rule about integration density, not the name of a practice.
  • C. Correct. Design and process are optimized together.
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More Advanced transistors (FinFET and GAA) questions

  1. In nanosheet GAA transistors now in production, how many nanosheets are typically stacked in one transistor?
  2. Which structure places nMOS and pMOS nanosheets close together on either side of a thin insulating wall to reduce cell area?
  3. What is the state called in which the channel is so short that carriers travel from source to drain almost without scattering?
  4. Which transistor has a source, channel and drain of the same conductivity type and doping, with no PN junctions?
  5. In FinFETs built on bulk substrates, what is the purpose of a heavily doped layer at the base of the fin (the part the gate controls poorly)?