Interconnect processes

Which term refers to the contacts and local interconnects that connect the transistors to the multilevel wiring?

  1. ADicing
  2. BMOL (middle of line)
  3. CPackage
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Answer: B. MOL (middle of line)

The steps and structures between transistor fabrication and multilevel wiring fabrication, such as contacts to the source, drain and gate and local connections, are called MOL (middle of line). With scaling, resistance in this region strongly affects performance, driving improvements in materials and structures.

  • A. Dicing cuts chips out of the wafer.
  • B. Correct. It is the region between transistors and wiring.
  • C. The package is what encloses the finished chip.
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More Interconnect processes questions

  1. In scaled multilevel wiring, what is the main reason via resistance has become a problem?
  2. Which statement about the capacitance of a wire is correct?
  3. What is the effect of increasing a wire's thickness (height) without changing its width?
  4. In chips using mechanically weak low-k films, what is the problem called in which stress during packaging cracks or delaminates the films?
  5. What film is commonly placed on top of Cu wiring to act both as a diffusion barrier toward the dielectric and as an etch stop?