CSE 464: Introduction to VLSI Design

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, concepts, historical milestones, and components from the CSE 464 Intro to VLSI Design lecture notes.

VLSI Design

The field dealing with MOS VLSI technologies, CMOS digital circuits, layout design, simulation, and realization of digital subsystems such as adders and memory.

CMOS Transistors

The fundamental components whose functions and properties are essential to understand in VLSI design courses.

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Tools

Commercial software used for layout design and simulation in VLSI circuit design and analysis, speeding up the design process.

CMOS Biosensors

An application of VLSI for in vitro diagnosis, testing, DNA sequencing, and drug development, often involving Sensing, Transducing, Amplifying, and Processing (S.T.A.P.) stages.

Quantum Chip (Intel's Tunnel Falls)

An advanced VLSI example featuring 12-qubit quantum dot gates (single electron transistors) fabricated on a 300-mm CMOS wafer.

Full Custom Design

A type of IC design where every transistor is designed and laid out by hand.

ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit)

A type of digital IC design where circuits are synthesized automatically from a high-level language description.

Semi-Custom Design (or Structured Custom)

A type of digital IC design that is a mixture of custom and synthesized modules.

PN Junction

A junction formed between p-type and n-type semiconductors, acting as a diode that allows current flow only in one direction.

Dopants

Impurities added to pure silicon to increase its conductivity by providing extra electrons (n-type) or creating holes (p-type).

n-type Silicon

Silicon doped with Group V elements (e.g., Phosphorous, Arsenic) which contribute an extra free electron, increasing conductivity.

p-type Silicon

Silicon doped with Group III elements (e.g., Boron, Gallium) which create a missing electron (hole), increasing conductivity.

nMOS Transistor

A MOS transistor with n+ source/drain regions and a p-type bulk. It is OFF when the gate is low and ON when the gate is high, forming an n-type channel.

pMOS Transistor

A MOS transistor with p+ source/drain regions and an n-type bulk. It is ON when the gate is low and OFF when the gate is high.

VDD (Power Supply Voltage)

The positive power supply for integrated circuits, which has decreased over time from 12-18V to sub-1V in modern processes to prevent damage and reduce power consumption.

CMOS Inverter

A basic CMOS logic gate where a pMOS and an nMOS transistor are arranged to produce an output that is the logical complement of its input.

CMOS NAND Gate

A CMOS logic gate where the output pulls low (0) if ALL inputs are 1, and pulls high (1) if ANY input is 0.

CMOS NOR Gate

A CMOS logic gate where the output pulls low (0) if ANY input is 1, and pulls high (1) if ALL inputs are 0.

Static Power Dissipation (CMOS)

A characteristic of stable CMOS circuits where there is a path from only one supply (VSS or VDD) to the output, minimizing power loss when not switching.

Dynamic Power Dissipation (CMOS)

A characteristic of CMOS circuits referring to the momentary drain of current that occurs when a gate switches from one state to another.

Transmission Gate (Complementary Switch)

A switching element combining n-channel and p-channel transistors in parallel to effectively pass both '1' (VDD) and '0' (GND) signals.

Physical Layout

The representation in IC design that captures the interaction between different layers on a chip, including diffusion, polysilicon, metal, and vias (contacts).

Stick Diagram

An intermediate, topological representation in IC design between the schematic and mask levels, showing how different layers relate without specifying exact wire widths.

Integrated Circuit (IC)

The concept of a monolithic 'integrated circuit' was first developed by Jack Kilby, where components are fabricated and connected on a single semiconductor substrate.

Microprocessor (Intel 4004)

Introduced by Intel in 1971, this was the first microprocessor, containing 1000 transistors and operating at 1 MHz.

MOSFET (Metal Oxidation Silicon Field Effect Transistor)

The full name for the type of transistor that is fundamental to modern integrated circuits, emphasizing its core structure.

Gate (Transistor Terminal)

One of the four terminals of a MOS transistor, typically made of polysilicon, which controls the conductivity of the channel between the source and drain.

Source (Transistor Terminal)

One of the four terminals of a MOS transistor, acting as the origin of charge carriers that flow through the channel.

Drain (Transistor Terminal)

One of the four terminals of a MOS transistor, acting as the destination of charge carriers that flow through the channel.

Body (Transistor Terminal)

The bulk silicon substrate that acts as one of the four terminals of a MOS transistor.

SiO2 (Silicon Dioxide)

A very good insulator material used in MOS structures to separate the gate from the channel, forming a MOS capacitor.

Inversion Channel

A layer formed under the gate of an MOS transistor, changing its conductivity type (e.g., becoming n-type in a p-type body) to allow current flow.

Hierarchical Design

A design methodology used in VLSI to manage complexity by using integrated circuit cells or 'widgets' as building blocks.

Design Flow

The structured process that guides the design of integrated circuits, from initial concept to final fabrication.

VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)

A classification of integrated circuits that integrates hundreds of thousands to billions of transistors on a single chip.

CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor)

A widely used semiconductor technology that employs both n-type and p-type MOSFETs in complementary pairs to construct logic gates.

Planar Transistors

An invention by Jean Hoerni in 1958, using a technique for diffusing impurities into silicon to build transistors with a SiO2 insulator.

S.T.A.P.

An acronym representing the stages of Sensing, Transducing, Amplifying, and Processing, often used in the context of CMOS biosensors.