TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Taiwan's National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) unveiled on Tuesday a new three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D-IC) technology, called ''Monolithic 3D-IC'' or ''Muliplelayer 3D-IC'', which can be used to make "super chips" in terms of the way it reduced electricity consumption and faster data transmission.
As the handheld devices are getting slimmer and lighter the chipset inside should be the same. NARL said it has spent NT$500 million (US$16.61 million) in the past 10 years developing the Monolithic 3D-IC technology, which chip makers can use to pile up multiple layers of chips, allowing for more functions like image sensoring, biosensoring, and chemical sensoring.
Xie Jia-min, head of this NARL project said, “this state-of-the-art Monolithic 3D-IC is so much better then the Through-Silicon Via (TSA) 3D-IC regrading to the speedy data transmission that that TSA 3D-IC is somewhat like a top floor and a first floor of Taipei 101, both floor only communicated by one elevator while Monolithic 3D-IC is like a two-stories building that has equipped with mulitiple elevators.”
“In other words, Monolithic 3D-IC is measured 50% lower of electricity demand and a hundred times faster data transmission than that of TSA 3D-IC. Also the new technology can allow 150 layers of chips to fit in space once used to stack a mere two chips using traditional technology,” Xie added.
Monolithic 3D-IC technology can be applied in making memory, monitor, and wafer chips, namely, TSMC, Macronix, or those wafer fabrication-related firms are potential collaborative partners.
