Emerging trends and obstacles in Damascus processing and electroplating for Chiplet industries: A review

Abstract

The Chiplet is widely regarded as the most viable continuation of Moore's Law in the "Beyond Moore" era. This is primarily due to its capability to circumvent complex process barriers, thereby achieving performance levels comparable to those of advanced processes, while significantly reducing costs. Despite the high-performance integration achieved by the heterogeneous integration characteristics of Chiplet, several limitations exist. To address the complex issue of heterogeneous chip integration, it is imperative to enhance the process stability of electroplating interconnections within each chip. Chiplet and Damascus process innovations have become the focus of the chip manufacturing industry, but there is a lack of literature to summarize the advances in research. This review explores new process advances in the Damascus process in relation to Chiplet. The features and benefits of Chiplet technology are initially described, followed by an in-depth examination of the evolution of the Damascene process as it adapts to new technologies within the Chiplet industry. Then, the challenges that the Damascene plating process will encounter in Chiplet industry are analyzed in terms of electroplating equipment, electroplating solution, and electromigration (EM) prediction. Furthermore, this review explores emerging trends and future prospects related to Chiplet and Damascene processes, with the goal of offering valuable guidance and support to researchers in this field.