HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTOR FILMS ON SILICON WAFERS ADAPTED TO INTERCONNECTS IN A MULTI-CHIP ...

IT IS COMMONLY AGREED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF ULTRA-HIGH DENSITY AND VERY HIGH SPEED ELECTRONICS FOR COMPUTING AND SIGNAL PROCESSING IS PRESENTLY LIMITED NOT BY THE CIRCUT COMPONENTS THEMSELVES BUT RATHER BY THE ELECTRONIC PACKAGING. HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTOR (HTSC) FILMS ARE EXPECTED TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE APPLICATIONS IF A NUMBER OF CRITICAL MATERIALS SYNTHESIS AND FABRICATION ISSUES CAN BE RESOLVED IN WAYS FAVORABLE TO THESE ENVISIONED APPLICATIONS. SUPERCONDUCTING THIN FILMS CAPABLE OF CARRYING HIGH CURRENT DENSITIES, AND THAT CAN BE PATTERNED INTO INTERCONNECT LINES OF ORDER 10 MICRON WIDTHS, HAVING EXTREMELY LOW INTRINSIC LOSS AND DISPERSION UP INTO AT LEAST 10 GHZ, HAVE CONSIDERABLE APPLICATIONS POTENTIAL AS FAST HIGH-DENSITY JC REQUIRE ECELLENT CRYSTAL QUALITY, WHICH CAN ONLY OCCUR IF THE FILMS ARE EPITAXIAL WITH THE SUBSTRATE. SILICON WAFERS ARE CLEARLY THE BEST CHOICE OF SUBSTRATE FOR MANY TECHNOLOGICAL REASONS. WE PROPOSE HERE TO CONSIDER THE TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES AROUND HTSC INTERCONNECTS FABRICATED FROM THIN Y-BA-CU-O (YBCO) FILMS ON ZIRCONIA FILMS ON SILICON WAFERS WICH ARE STACKED INTO MULTI-LEVEL INTERCONNECT BOARDS WITH PAD CONTACTS WHICH ARE SUITABLE FOR MOUNTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE CHIPS. THIS ARCHITECTURE IS THAT OF A MULTI-CHIP MODULE (MCM), AAS IS WIDELY DISCUSSED IN THE CURRENT MICROELECTRIC, PACKAGING LITERATURE, BUT NOW EXTENDED TO HTSC FILMS ON SI. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THE USE OF HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTOR INTERCONNECTS FOR ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT ASSEMBLES WILL ADDRESS FUTURE MARKETS IN VERY HIGH PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS, SUCH AS COMMUNCATIONS AND COMPUTING. THIS IS ANTICIPATED TO BE A HIGH DEMAND MARKET FOR BOTH COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY END USERS AND THIS TECHNOLOGY IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO BE IN AN AREA OF GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR US INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS. KEY WORDS - SUPERCONDUCTIVITY, INTERCONNECTS, SILICON, CIRCUITS,