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doi: 10.7873/DATE.2015.1111
Monolithic 3D Integration: A Path from Concept to Reality
Max M. Shulaker1,2, Tony F. Wu1,2, Mohamed M. Sabry1,2, Hai Wei1,2, H.-S. Philip Wong1,2 and Subhasish Mitra1,2,3
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, USA
2Stanford SystemX Alliance, Stanford University, USA
3Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, USA
ABSTRACT
Monolithic three-dimensional (3D) integration enables
revolutionary digital system architectures of computation
immersed in memory. Vertically-stacked layers of logic
circuits and memories, with nano-scale inter-layer vias
(with the same pitch and dimensions as tight-pitched metal
layer vias), provide massive connectivity between the
layers. The nano-scale inter-layer vias are orders of
magnitude denser than conventional through silicon vias
(TSVs). Such digital system architectures can achieve
significant performance and energy efficiency benefits
compared to today’s designs. The massive vertical
connectivity makes such architectures particularly
attractive for abundant-data applications that impose
stringent requirements with respect to low-latency data
processing, high-bandwidth data transfer, and energyefficient
storage of massive amounts of data. We present
an overview of our progress toward realizing monolithic
3D ICs, enabled by recent advances in emerging
nanotechnologies such as carbon nanotube field-effect
transistors and emerging memory technologies such as
Resistive RAMs and Spin-Transfer Torque RAMs.
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