Big Changes In Tiny Interconnects

Below 7nm, get ready for new materials, new structures, and very different properties.

One of the fundamental components of a semiconductor, the interconnect, is undergoing radical changes as chips scale below 7nm. Some of the most pronounced shifts are occurring at the lowest metal layers.

As more and smaller transistors are packed onto a die, and as more data is processed and moved both on and off a chip or across a package, the materials used to make those interconnects, the structures themselves, and the entire approach for utilizing those structures is changing.

At the most fundamental level, the challenge is ensuring a good connection between different layers. The problem is that copper, which has been used for those interconnects since 130nm, has largely run out of steam.

At 10nm, Intel made a switch. The local interconnect layers—M0 and M1—incorporate cobalt, not copper, as in previous technologies. The remaining layers use traditional copper metal.

Author's summary: Interconnects undergo radical changes below 7nm.

Semiconductor Engineering — 2025-10-13

Big Changes In Tiny Interconnects

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