Full-wave electromagnetic and quasi-static analysis of through silicon via

Through silicon via (TSV) is an essential component for three dimensional (3D) integration and packaging. Rigorous analysis of its electrical characteristics is necessary due to its small dimension, conductive silicon substrate and thin silicon dioxide isolation layer. Full-wave electromagnetic (EM) analysis and equivalent circuit model extraction are performed. Passive circuit model extraction can prove inaccurate for all frequencies of interest and for modeling mutual coupling effects. This paper presents the comparison of full-wave, quasi-static and static analyses for the impedance matrices of different TSV structures and arrays. Frequency and parametric analyses are conducted to illustrate when accurate full-wave EM simulation is needed and when faster quasi-static or static simulation is sufficient. Design can be greatly enhanced by choosing the appropriate simulation tool for specific specifications.