An accurate calculation method on thermal effectiveness of TSV and wire

Abstract

With the rapid increment of the power density and decrement of chip size, thermal management has become a critical problem in three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC). Through-silicon-via (TSV) is widely used to alleviate thermal problems thanks to its high thermal conductivity. However, thermal effectiveness of TSV in the thermal management varies in different situations. In this paper, based on a simplified thermal resistance calculation of heat dissipation path constructed by TSV and Cu wire, thermal effectiveness of TSV is defined for thermal management. The simplified model is verified by a full scale numerical simulation. The present thermal effectiveness shows potential in engineering guidelines for TSV and Cu wire design in thermal-aware 3D IC floorplanning.