Microchip post-processing: There is plenty of room at the top

This chapter discusses the addition of new functions to CMOS chips, focusing on post-processing. The author considers the restrictions imposed by thermal budget and pattern density on the choice of where in the chip one should add the new functional devices. The chapter also discusses a variety of commercial and emerging IC microsystems. Today, semiconductor processing is now the most developed fabrication approach and offers many possibilities for the realization of tiny, high-performance electronic systems. Post-processing of CMOS microchips is an attractive approach to make systems with “more-than-Moore” functionality. It makes good use of the existing CMOS infrastructure to obtain an excellent electronic backbone, while the post-processing can be carried out in relative freedom, as long as the boundary conditions, such as thermal budget and stress containment, are properly addressed. Controlled Vocabulary Terms CMOS integrated circuits; micromechanical devices; thermal analysis