Via traversant

In electronic engineering, a through-silicon via (TSV) or through-chip via is a vertical electrical connection (via) that passes completely through a silicon wafer or die. TSVs are high-performance interconnect techniques used as an alternative to wire-bond and flip chips to create 3D packages and 3D integrated circuits. Compared to alternatives such as package-on-package, the interconnect and device density is substantially higher, and the length of the connections becomes shorter. Dictated by the manufacturing process, there exist three different types of TSVs: via-first TSVs are fabricated before the individual component (transistors, capacitors, resistors, etc.) are patterned (front end of line, FEOL), via-middle TSVs are fabricated after the individual component are patterned but before the metal layers (back-end-of-line, BEOL), and via-last TSVs are fabricated after (or during) the BEOL process. Via-middle TSVs are currently a popular option for advanced 3D ICs as well as for interposer stacks. TSVs through the front end of line (FEOL) have to be carefully accounted for during the EDA and manufacturing phases. That is because TSVs induce thermo-mechanical stress in the FEOL layer, thereby impacting the transistor behaviour. s (CIS) were among the first applications to adopt TSV(s) in volume manufacturing. In initial CIS applications, TSVs were formed on the backside of the wafer to form interconnects, eliminate wire bonds, and allow for reduced form factor and higher-density interconnects. Chip stacking came about only with the advent of backside illuminated (BSI) CIS, and involved reversing the order of the lens, circuitry, and photodiode from traditional front-side illumination so that the light coming through the lens first hits the photodiode and then the circuitry. This was accomplished by flipping the photodiode wafer, thinning the backside, and then bonding it on top of the readout layer using a direct oxide bond, with TSVs as interconnects around the perimeter. A 3D package (System in Package, Chip Stack MCM, etc.