Copper Interconnect
Copper-based chips are semiconductor integrated circuits, usually microprocessors, which use copper for interconnections. Since copper is a better conductor than aluminium, chips using this technology can have smaller metal components, and use less energy to pass electricity through them. Together, these effects lead to higher-performance processors. They were first introduced by IBM, with assistance from Motorola, in 1997.
The transition from aluminium to copper required significant developments in fabrication techniques, including radically different methods for patterning the metal as well as the introduction of barrier metal layers to isolate the silicon from potentially damaging copper atoms.
Read more about Copper Interconnect: Patterning, Barrier Metal, Electromigration
Famous quotes containing the word copper:
“He had put, within his reach,
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And six or seven shells,
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—Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (1823–1896)