Verifying thermal/thermo-mechanical behavior of a 3D stack - challenges and solutions

The paper describes the design challenges for a low-cost 3D Cu-TSV technology. Based on experimental characterization, we'll indicate the importance of thermal and thermo-mechanical challenges. To avoid related yield loss and/or reliability issues, thermo-mechanical and thermal hotspots should be re-solved in early phases of the design flow. We will present a possible design flow hereto based on the concept of “smart mechanical samples”.