ADVANCING THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE LOGIC AND ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

High-speed silicon bipolar technology continues to meet the demands of integrated circuits for mainframe computers. IBM has developed an advanced bipolar logic and high-speed array technology for its Enterprise System/9000TM systems. This technology, code-named ATX-4, is composed of trench-isolated, double-polysilicon self-aligned bipolar devices, and has four fully planarized wiring levels with interlevel connecting studs. Chip fabrication has been implemented in 1-mum ground rules and is in full-scale manufacturing. ATX-4 represents a significant advance in providing higher-speed and lower-power logic at increased levels of integration compared with that of the ATX-1 technology used in previous generations. An overview of the design and integration of ATX-4 is discussed.