Near speed-of-light on-chip electrical interconnect

The propagation limits of electrical signals for systems built with conventional silicon processing are explored. Data transmission near the speed of light with an all-electrical system can be achieved by taking advantage of the inductance-dominated high-frequency regime of on-chip interconnect. In a 0.18 /spl mu/m, 6-level Aluminum CMOS technology, an overall delay of 278 ps for a 20 mm long line corresponding to a propagation velocity of one half the speed of light in silicon dioxide has been demonstrated.