Advanced interconnection technologies and system-level communications functions

Drawing on advanced packaging and interconnection schemes along with advances in VLSI technologies, the authors consider some examples of novel interconnection technologies. Novel polymer waveguides requiring only exposure to deep UV to fabricate a waveguide are emphasized as a potentially important material compatible with overlaying complex VLSI circuitry. Superconducting microstrip interconnections are considered. These examples suggest that conventional VLSI silicon technologies will evolve to become the support for the selective introduction of advanced interconnection technologies, yielding within the smaller system volumes of wafer-level systems the heterogeneous mixture of technologies seen in, or being introduced into, conventional, complex systems. It is pointed out that the specific examples used are microfabricated structures on substrates appropriate for achieving narrow features.<>