Mechanical cooling fin for interconnects
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsKi-Don Lee, Srikanth Krishnan, William R. Hunter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one embodiment, an integrated circuit includes an electrically active interconnect line within a dielectric layer having a top and bottom surface, the bottom surface of the dielectric layer being coupled to the top surface of a substrate underlying the dielectric layer. The dielectric layer has horizontally arranged heat dissipating layers. An electrically inactive conductor or cooling fin is located within the dielectric layer at a heat dissipating layer below and closer to the substrate than said active interconnect line. The electrically inactive conductor is coupled to said electrically active interconnect line as an extensions of electrically active interconnect line to dissipate heat therefrom.
Claims17
A method of dissipating heat in an electrically active interconnect line in an integrated circuit comprising the steps of:
- providing an enhanced heat dissipating structure comprising a continuous electrically inactive conductor extending in one or more heat dissipating layers of a dielectric body dielectrically spaced from and along a heat dissipating substrate and
- connecting said electrically inactive conductor to said electrically active interconnect line as an extension of said electrically active interconnect line to dissipate heat from said electrically active interconnect line through said enhanced heat dissipating layers of dielectric body.
An integrated circuit, comprising:
- an electrically active interconnect line within a dielectric body having a top and bottom surface, the bottom surface of the dielectric body being coupled to the top surface of a heat dissipating substrate underlying the dielectric body;
- and
- an electrically inactive continuous conductor within said dielectric body at one or more layers of said body closer to the heat dissipating substrate than said active interconnect line with dielectric material separating the inactive conductor from said heat dissipating substrate;
- said electrically inactive conductor coupled to said electrically active interconnect line as an extensions of electrically active interconnect line to dissipate heat therefrom.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.