Heat-path layout technique for thermal mitigation in advanced CMOS technologies

Abstract

In this paper, heat-path layout technique to mitigate the self-heating effects in transistors are presented. As process nodes continue to shrink, managing heat dissipation becomes increasingly crucial. A heat-path layout technique is introduced to improve heat dissipation, which enhances thermal conductivity by stacking dummy metals and vias in the drain region which is a hot spot. This approach effectively reduces both thermal resistance and thermal capacitance. Experiments were conducted using various process nodes to evaluate the effects of different types and placements of heat paths on heat generation and mitigation. The results demonstrate that the proposed heat-path layout technique become increasingly effective as process nodes scale down, providing valuable insights for thermal and electrical optimization in circuit design using next-generation devices.