Distortion analysis of ultrafast pulses in interconnections on integrated circuits

Transmission line theory is used to develop a model appropriate for interconnects in VLSI. Since ultimate device switching speeds can be no shorter than a few picoseconds, pulse lengths of 5 ps and 50 ps are studied. The case where both ground and signal lines are in the same metallisation layer of the process is studied and geometries appropriate for existing technologies are considered. A comparison of normal and superconducting metallisation is made to assess whether the inclusion of high temperature superconductors is a worthwhile proposition. The transmission matrix method based on ABCD parameters is used to take account of different physical properties or geometric changes along the length of a given line