A novel analytical thermal model for multilevel nano-scale interconnects considering the via effect

Based on the heat diffusion equation of multilevel interconnects, a novel analytical thermal model for multilevel nano-scale interconnects considering the via effect is presented, which can compute quickly the temperature of multilevel interconnects, with substrate temperature given. Based on the proposed model and the 65 nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process parameter, the temperature of nano-scale interconnects is computed. The computed results show that the via effect has a great effect on local interconnects, but the reduction of thermal conductivity has little effect on local interconnects. With the reduction of thermal conductivity or the increase of current density, however, the temperature of global interconnects rises greatly, which can result in a great deterioration in their performance. The proposed model can be applied to computer aided design (CAD) of very large-scale integrated circuits (VLSIs) in nano-scale technologies. (condensed matter: structure, thermal and mechanical properties)