{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852944","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9852944","title":"Backside contact to a final substrate","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2016-09-23T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-12-26T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L","H01L"],"num_claims":15,"abstract":"Device structures and fabrication methods for a backside contact to a final substrate. An electrically-conducting connection is formed that extends through a device layer of a silicon-on-insulator substrate and partially through a buried insulator layer of the silicon-on-insulator substrate. After the electrically-conducting connection is formed, a handle wafer of the silicon-on-insulator substrate is removed. After the handle wafer is removed, the buried insulator layer is partially removed to expose the electrically-conducting connection. After the buried insulator layer is partially removed, a final substrate is coupled to the buried insulator layer such that the electrically-conducting connection is coupled with the final substrate."},"analysis":{"summary":"The patent titled \"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate\" (US-9852944) introduces a groundbreaking method for fabricating advanced semiconductor devices, specifically focusing on creating highly efficient electrical connections. The core innovation lies in its ability to establish conductive pathways from the 'backside' of a device layer within a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, leading to enhanced performance and integration capabilities.\n\nThe primary problem this invention addresses is the increasing congestion and performance limitations associated with traditional frontside electrical contacts in shrinking semiconductor devices. As chips become denser, frontside routing for power and signals can lead to increased resistance-capacitance (RC) delays, thermal management challenges, and reduced space for active components.\n\nThe technical approach involves a precise, multi-step fabrication process. First, an electrically-conducting connection is formed through the device layer of an SOI substrate and partially into its buried insulator layer. Crucially, the handle wafer – a thick support layer – is then removed. This removal exposes the backside of the buried insulator. Next, the exposed buried insulator layer is partially etched to reveal the previously formed electrical connection. Finally, a new, 'final substrate' is coupled to the remaining buried insulator layer, thereby establishing a direct and robust electrical contact with the exposed conductor.\n\nFrom a business perspective, this technology offers significant value. It enables higher integration densities, leading to smaller, more powerful, and energy-efficient chips. By freeing up frontside real estate, it allows for more complex logic and improved signal routing. Enhanced thermal management and optimized power delivery networks contribute to greater device reliability and extended operational life. This innovation is particularly impactful for high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, 5G infrastructure, and advanced mobile devices.\n\nThe market opportunity for this backside contact approach is substantial, as it addresses a fundamental scaling challenge in the rapidly evolving semiconductor industry. Companies that adopt or license this technology can gain a significant competitive advantage, positioning themselves at the forefront of next-generation chip design and manufacturing, driving innovation in areas requiring extreme performance and miniaturization.","layman_explanation":"### What Problem Does This Solve?\n\nImagine you're designing a futuristic skyscraper, but all the essential utilities – electricity, water, internet cables – have to run visibly across the exterior of every floor. It would be messy, inefficient, and limit how many floors you could build or how sleek the building could look. This is a bit like the challenge facing modern microchip design.\n\nIn today's advanced electronics, integrated circuits (ICs) are becoming incredibly dense, packing billions of tiny components onto a silicon wafer. Traditionally, all the electrical connections for power, ground, and signals are routed on the 'frontside' (top surface) of the chip. As chips get smaller and more powerful, this frontside becomes extremely congested. This 'traffic jam' of wires leads to several business-critical problems:\n\n*   **Performance Bottlenecks**: Signals travel slower, and power delivery becomes less efficient due to longer, more resistive pathways.\n*   **Heat Management Issues**: Densely packed wires can trap heat, leading to 'hot spots' that reduce chip reliability and lifespan.\n*   **Design Limitations**: Less space on the frontside means engineers have to compromise on functionality or chip size, impacting market competitiveness.\n\nExisting solutions often involve complex layering or through-silicon vias (TSVs) that can be difficult and costly to manufacture, sometimes introducing their own reliability concerns.\n\n### How Does It Work?\n\nThe patent \"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate\" offers an ingenious solution by, quite literally, turning the problem on its head. Instead of just building from the top, this invention proposes building crucial connections from the 'backside' of the chip's active layers.\n\nThink of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer as a delicate sandwich: a thin, active 'device layer' (your building's functional floors) on top, a 'buried insulator layer' (a strong, insulating foundation), and then a thick 'handle wafer' (a temporary, robust construction base). The innovation's process is like this:\n\n1.  **Build a 'Hidden' Pathway**: First, engineers create a tiny, precise electrical connection (a 'utility shaft') that goes through your building's functional floors and partially into its insulating foundation.\n2.  **Remove the Construction Base**: Once that pathway is set, the thick, temporary construction base (the handle wafer) is carefully removed. This exposes the underside of the insulating foundation and the end of your hidden utility shaft.\n3.  **Reveal the Connection**: A small, controlled amount of the insulating foundation is then removed to fully expose the end of that utility shaft.\n4.  **Connect to a New 'Foundation'**: Finally, a new, permanent foundation (a 'final substrate') is attached directly to the exposed utility shaft. This new foundation now provides power and connections from the backside.\n\nThis conceptual shift allows for a much cleaner, more efficient routing of essential utilities, much like a modern building with all its critical infrastructure hidden within its core or underneath, making the visible exterior sleek and functional.\n\n### Why Does This Matter?\n\nThis innovation isn't just a technical curiosity; it has profound business implications:\n\n*   **Market Leadership**: Companies adopting this technology can produce chips that are genuinely faster, more power-efficient, and more compact than competitors'. This translates directly into market share gains in high-value segments like AI processors, data center CPUs, and advanced mobile components.\n*   **Cost Efficiency & ROI**: While there's an initial investment in adapting fabrication lines, the long-term benefits are substantial. Smaller, more reliable chips mean more chips per wafer (cost savings), fewer warranty claims, and products that command premium prices due to superior performance. The ROI comes from enhanced product competitiveness and operational efficiencies.\n*   **Enabling New Products**: By freeing up frontside space, engineers can design more complex and feature-rich chips, or integrate diverse functionalities (like combining processing power, memory, and sensors) in novel ways. This allows for entirely new product categories and capabilities, opening up untapped market segments.\n*   **Strategic Advantage**: In the fierce global semiconductor race, owning or leveraging such foundational intellectual property provides a critical strategic advantage, attracting talent, partnerships, and investment.\n\n### What's Next?\n\nThis technology is a key enabler for the next generation of 3D-stacked chips and heterogeneous integration, where different types of chip components are seamlessly combined. We can expect to see this approach implemented in future high-performance computing architectures, driving advancements in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and autonomous systems. Its market adoption is likely to accelerate as current frontside scaling limits become more pronounced, making backside contacts an essential component of advanced microchip manufacturing.","technical_analysis":"The patent \"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate\" (US-9852944) details a sophisticated fabrication methodology for creating vertical electrical connections in semiconductor devices, specifically leveraging Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrates. This approach offers a compelling solution to the challenges of interconnect density, signal integrity, and thermal management in advanced microelectronics.\n\n**Technical Architecture and Problem Statement:**\nTraditional semiconductor fabrication primarily relies on frontside interconnects, where all electrical pathways are routed on the same surface as the active devices. As device scaling continues, this leads to significant congestion, increasing parasitic resistance and capacitance (RC delays), and limiting the efficiency of power delivery networks (PDNs). Furthermore, dense frontside wiring can impede effective heat dissipation, leading to thermal hotspots and reduced device reliability. The invention addresses these issues by proposing a method to establish electrical contacts from the 'backside' of the active device layer, thereby freeing up frontside real estate and optimizing vertical interconnects.\n\n**Implementation Details and Process Flow:**\nThe core of this technology lies in a precisely orchestrated sequence of steps:\n\n1.  **Initial Electrically-Conducting Connection Formation**: The process begins with an SOI substrate, which typically consists of a device layer (e.g., single-crystal silicon), a buried insulator layer (BOX, typically SiO2), and a handle wafer (a thick silicon support). The first critical step involves forming an electrically-conducting connection that extends vertically through the device layer and penetrates partially into the buried insulator layer. This can be achieved using standard semiconductor processing techniques such as:\n    *   **Lithography**: Patterning a resist layer to define the location of the via or trench.\n    *   **Etching**: Anisotropic dry etching (e.g., Reactive Ion Etching - RIE) through the device layer and into the BOX layer. The etch depth into the BOX layer is precisely controlled.\n    *   **Deposition**: Conformal deposition of a barrier/adhesion layer (e.g., TiN/TaN) followed by a conductive material (e.g., copper by electrochemical deposition, tungsten by CVD, or polysilicon). The choice of conductive material depends on specific performance requirements.\n    *   **Planarization**: Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) to remove excess conductive material and create a planar surface, isolating the individual connections.\n\n2.  **Handle Wafer Removal**: After the initial connections are formed, the thick handle wafer of the SOI substrate is removed. This step is crucial for accessing the backside of the buried insulator layer. Common methods include:\n    *   **Grinding/Thinning**: Mechanical grinding to reduce the handle wafer thickness substantially.\n    *   **Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP)**: Further thinning and planarization.\n    *   **Selective Etching**: A highly selective wet or dry etch is then used to completely remove the remaining handle wafer, stopping precisely at the buried insulator layer, leveraging the etch selectivity between silicon (handle wafer) and silicon dioxide (BOX layer).\n\n3.  **Partial Buried Insulator Layer Removal**: With the handle wafer gone, the backside of the buried insulator layer is now exposed. A subsequent partial removal of this BOX layer is performed to expose the previously formed electrically-conducting connections. This typically involves a highly controlled, selective dry etch (e.g., using fluorine-based plasma) that removes the SiO2 of the BOX layer without significantly affecting the exposed conductive material. The etch depth is critical to ensure proper exposure for subsequent coupling.\n\n4.  **Final Substrate Coupling**: In the final step, a 'final substrate' is coupled to the remaining portion of the buried insulator layer. This coupling establishes the electrical connection between the exposed conductors and the final substrate. This can be achieved through various advanced bonding techniques:\n    *   **Direct Wafer Bonding**: Oxide-to-oxide bonding between the remaining BOX layer and a new substrate, with subsequent metallization to the exposed contacts.\n    *   **Hybrid Bonding**: Simultaneous dielectric-to-dielectric and metal-to-metal bonding at room temperature or low temperatures, providing robust electrical and mechanical connections.\n    *   **Micro-Bumping/Soldering**: For larger pitch applications, micro-bumps (e.g., Cu, SnAg) can be formed on the exposed contacts and then bonded to corresponding pads on the final substrate.\n\n**Performance Characteristics and Integration Patterns:**\nThis backside contact approach significantly enhances performance by:\n*   **Reducing Interconnect Lengths**: Direct vertical connections minimize signal propagation distances.\n*   **Improving Power Delivery**: Dedicated backside PDNs can reduce IR drop and ground bounce, vital for high-speed logic.\n*   **Enhancing Thermal Pathways**: Backside contacts can also act as thermal vias, providing more efficient heat escape routes.\n*   **Enabling Heterogeneous Integration**: The 'final substrate' can be another processed wafer, allowing integration of different functionalities (e.g., logic, memory, sensors, power management ICs) with optimized interconnects. This is a critical enabler for advanced chiplet architectures and 3D stacking.\n\nThe Backside Contact to a Final Substrate patent represents a key technical breakthrough in semiconductor manufacturing, providing a robust and scalable method for creating high-density, low-resistance, and thermally efficient electrical contacts. Its implications for future device architectures, particularly in the realm of 3D integration and advanced packaging, are profound, promising a new era of performance and functional density.","business_analysis":"The patent titled \"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate\" (US-9852944) introduces a pivotal innovation in semiconductor manufacturing that carries substantial business implications. This technology addresses fundamental scaling challenges, offering a pathway to significantly enhance device performance, power efficiency, and integration density, thereby unlocking considerable market opportunities and competitive advantages.\n\n**Market Opportunity Size:**\nThe global semiconductor market is projected to reach over $1 trillion by 2030, driven by demand for AI, IoT, 5G, high-performance computing (HPC), and automotive electronics. A critical bottleneck in this growth is the ability to connect an ever-increasing number of transistors and diverse functionalities within smaller footprints while maintaining performance and power efficiency. This invention directly addresses this challenge, making it relevant across the entire advanced semiconductor manufacturing value chain. The market for advanced packaging, which directly benefits from this technology, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8-10%, reaching tens of billions of dollars. This patent positions itself as a core enabler for this high-growth segment.\n\n**Competitive Advantages:**\nCompanies that successfully implement or license the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate technology will gain several distinct competitive advantages:\n\n1.  **Superior Performance**: Chips designed with this backside contact approach can achieve lower RC delays, improved signal integrity, and more efficient power delivery. This translates to faster processing speeds and reduced power consumption, critical differentiators in competitive markets like server CPUs, GPUs, and mobile processors.\n2.  **Higher Integration Density**: By freeing up the frontside of the device, this invention allows for more active components per unit area, leading to smaller chip sizes or more functionality within the same footprint. This is invaluable for miniaturized devices and advanced 3D stacking.\n3.  **Enhanced Thermal Management**: Improved thermal pathways via backside contacts can lead to cooler-running, more reliable devices with longer lifespans, reducing warranty costs and improving brand reputation.\n4.  **Enabler for Heterogeneous Integration**: The ability to seamlessly couple a 'final substrate' opens doors for advanced heterogeneous integration, allowing the assembly of diverse chiplets (e.g., logic, memory, RF, sensors) from different process nodes or materials. This flexibility is key to future System-in-Package (SiP) and chiplet architectures.\n\n**Revenue Potential and Business Models:**\nThis patent presents multiple avenues for revenue generation:\n\n*   **Direct Product Enhancement**: Semiconductor manufacturers can integrate this technology into their fabrication processes to produce higher-performing, more competitive CPUs, GPUs, memory, and specialized AI accelerators, commanding premium pricing.\n*   **Foundry Services**: Leading foundries can offer advanced backside contact fabrication as a differentiated service to their fabless customers, attracting high-value projects.\n*   **Licensing and Royalties**: The patent holder can license the technology to other semiconductor companies, generating significant royalty income.\n*   **IP Portfolio Strengthening**: The patent strengthens the intellectual property portfolio, providing leverage in cross-licensing agreements and deterring infringement.\n\n**Strategic Positioning:**\nAdopting the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate technology strategically positions a company as a leader in advanced semiconductor fabrication and packaging. It demonstrates a commitment to innovation and addresses future challenges in chip design. This can attract top engineering talent, secure strategic partnerships, and enhance investor confidence.\n\n**ROI Projections:**\nWhile implementation requires R&D investment, the return on investment can be substantial. For a leading chip designer, improved performance can translate to market share gains, higher average selling prices (ASPs), and reduced design cycles. For a foundry, it means attracting high-value customers and commanding higher wafer prices. The long-term ROI is driven by sustained competitive advantage, market leadership, and the ability to address emerging high-growth segments with superior products. For example, a 10-15% performance boost in a high-volume processor could translate to billions in additional revenue over its lifetime.","faqs":[{"answer":"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) is a patented method for fabricating advanced semiconductor devices that creates electrical connections from the 'backside' of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate's device layer. Unlike traditional methods that route all connections from the top or 'frontside,' this innovation involves forming an electrically-conducting connection through the device layer and partially into a buried insulator layer. After this, the handle wafer is removed, and the buried insulator is partially etched to expose the connection. A new, 'final substrate' is then coupled, establishing direct contact. This technology is crucial for enhancing performance, power efficiency, and integration density in modern microchips.\n\nThis approach fundamentally rethinks how power and signals are delivered within integrated circuits. By utilizing the backside, it frees up valuable space on the frontside for more active components and complex logic. The patent details a precise sequence of steps, from initial connection formation to final substrate bonding, ensuring robust and reliable electrical pathways. It is a key enabler for the next generation of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and advanced mobile devices.\n\nThe core idea behind Backside Contact to a Final Substrate is to overcome the physical limitations faced by traditional chip designs. As chips become smaller and pack more transistors, the 'frontside' becomes incredibly congested with wires, leading to performance bottlenecks and thermal issues. By creating these 'hidden' backside connections, the invention provides a more efficient and scalable solution for future microelectronic systems.","question":"What is Backside Contact to a Final Substrate?"},{"answer":"The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) patent outlines a precise, multi-step fabrication process. It begins with a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, which consists of a device layer, a buried insulator layer (BOX), and a handle wafer.\n\nFirst, an electrically-conducting connection is formed. This connection extends vertically through the device layer and partially into the buried insulator layer. This involves standard semiconductor processes like lithography, etching, and metal deposition. Second, the handle wafer, which provides structural support, is completely removed. This step is critical as it exposes the backside of the buried insulator layer and the embedded portion of the electrical connection. Third, a controlled partial removal of the buried insulator layer is performed to precisely expose the electrically-conducting connection. This is typically achieved through highly selective etching. Finally, a 'final substrate' is coupled to the remaining portion of the buried insulator layer, making direct electrical contact with the exposed conductor. This completes the backside connection, providing a direct and efficient pathway for electrical signals or power.\n\nThis innovative sequence allows for the creation of robust vertical interconnects that are optimized for performance and space. By carefully controlling each step, the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate method ensures high precision and reliability, essential for advanced semiconductor devices. The process effectively separates critical power and ground routing from frontside signal routing, leading to significant architectural advantages.","question":"How does Backside Contact to a Final Substrate work?"},{"answer":"The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) patent primarily solves the critical problems of interconnect congestion, power delivery inefficiency, and thermal management in advanced semiconductor devices. In traditional chip designs, all electrical connections for power, ground, and signals are routed on the 'frontside' (top surface) of the chip. As transistors shrink and chip density increases, this frontside becomes extremely crowded.\n\nThis congestion leads to several significant issues: increased resistance-capacitance (RC) delays, which slow down signal propagation and reduce chip speed; degraded power delivery networks (PDNs) that suffer from IR drop and noise, impacting voltage stability; and inefficient heat dissipation, as dense wiring impedes thermal pathways, leading to hot spots and reduced device reliability. The space occupied by these frontside interconnects also limits the overall functional density and design flexibility of the chip.\n\nThe Backside Contact to a Final Substrate technology addresses these challenges by enabling the creation of dedicated, short, and highly efficient electrical pathways from the backside of the device layer. This frees up valuable frontside real estate, allowing for denser active components, optimized signal routing, and improved thermal dissipation. It provides a scalable solution to overcome the physical limitations faced by traditional 'frontside-only' fabrication, ensuring continued advancement in chip performance and integration capabilities.","question":"What problem does Backside Contact to a Final Substrate solve?"},{"answer":"The patent \"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate\" (US-9852944) was filed on September 23, 2016, and published on December 26, 2017. The patent currently does not list specific inventors or an assignee in the provided data. Typically, such innovations are the result of collaborative efforts by research and development teams within leading semiconductor companies or academic institutions.\n\nIn the semiconductor industry, patents like Backside Contact to a Final Substrate are often developed by a team of engineers and scientists who specialize in materials science, process engineering, and device physics. These individuals work to identify critical bottlenecks in existing manufacturing processes and devise novel solutions to enable future technological advancements. The absence of an assignee in the provided data might indicate a specific stage of the patent filing, or that the information was not extracted in this particular dataset.\n\nRegardless of the specific inventors, the technology described in Backside Contact to a Final Substrate represents a significant intellectual property asset, contributing to the broader field of microelectronics and advanced chip fabrication. Such patents are crucial for driving innovation and maintaining competitive advantage in the fast-paced semiconductor landscape.","question":"Who invented Backside Contact to a Final Substrate?"},{"answer":"The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) offers a multitude of key benefits that are crucial for the next generation of semiconductor devices.\n\nFirstly, it significantly **improves electrical performance**. By creating shorter, more direct electrical pathways from the backside, this technology reduces parasitic resistance and capacitance, leading to lower RC delays and enabling faster signal propagation. This translates to higher operating frequencies and overall faster chips for applications like AI and high-performance computing. Secondly, it allows for **increased integration density**. By freeing up the crowded frontside of the chip from power and ground routing, more space becomes available for active components and complex logic. This facilitates the creation of smaller, yet more powerful, integrated circuits, crucial for miniaturized devices.\n\nThirdly, Backside Contact to a Final Substrate **enhances thermal management**. The backside connections can also serve as efficient thermal conduits, allowing heat to dissipate directly from active device regions. This leads to cooler operating temperatures, which improves device reliability, extends lifespan, and enables higher power densities without thermal throttling. Fourthly, it **optimizes power delivery networks (PDNs)** by minimizing IR drop and inductive noise, ensuring stable and efficient power supply to the active devices. Finally, this innovation is a powerful enabler for **advanced heterogeneous integration and 3D stacking**, allowing for the seamless combination of different chiplets (e.g., logic, memory, sensors) with optimized vertical interconnects, paving the way for highly functional System-in-Package (SiP) solutions.","question":"What are the key benefits of Backside Contact to a Final Substrate?"},{"answer":"The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) distinguishes itself from prior art, particularly traditional frontside interconnects and even some Through-Silicon Via (TSV) approaches, through its unique methodology and resulting advantages.\n\nTraditional prior art primarily relies on frontside metallization for all electrical connections. This leads to severe routing congestion, increased RC delays, and inefficient power delivery as chip density grows. The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate fundamentally differs by moving critical power and ground connections to the backside of the device layer, thereby decluttering the frontside and optimizing electrical pathways. This is a paradigm shift from a purely frontside-centric design philosophy.\n\nCompared to TSVs, while both offer vertical interconnects, the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate is specifically optimized for Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) substrates and focuses on a precise sequence of handle wafer removal and buried insulator etching to expose pre-formed connections. This can offer advantages in terms of process control, potentially finer pitch capability for certain applications (especially power delivery), and reduced mechanical stress compared to deep TSV etching in bulk silicon. The ability to directly couple a 'final substrate' also provides unique flexibility for advanced 3D integration schemes. Its targeted application for backside power delivery and ground planes provides a differentiated solution that complements rather than fully replaces other vertical interconnect technologies.","question":"How is Backside Contact to a Final Substrate different from prior art?"},{"answer":"The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) patent is poised to significantly impact several key industries that rely heavily on advanced semiconductor technology.\n\nFirstly, the **High-Performance Computing (HPC)** and **Artificial Intelligence (AI)** sectors will see a profound impact. These fields demand chips with unparalleled processing power, speed, and energy efficiency. By enabling denser integration, superior power delivery, and enhanced thermal management, this technology will drive the development of more powerful CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators, crucial for data centers, supercomputers, and machine learning applications. Secondly, the **Mobile and Consumer Electronics** industry will benefit immensely. The ability to create smaller, more power-efficient, and higher-performing chips will lead to thinner, lighter, faster, and longer-lasting smartphones, wearables, and other portable devices.\n\nThirdly, **Telecommunications**, particularly 5G and future 6G infrastructure, will be impacted. The high-frequency and low-latency requirements of these networks necessitate highly optimized and efficient chips, which this backside contact approach can provide. Fourthly, the **Automotive** industry, especially in autonomous driving and advanced infotainment systems, will leverage this technology for more reliable, powerful, and compact chips needed for complex sensor fusion, real-time decision-making, and in-car intelligence. Finally, the broader **Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Packaging** industries will be directly transformed as they adopt and integrate this novel fabrication method, setting new standards for chip design and production across all these sectors. The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate is a foundational technology that underpins the future of digital innovation.","question":"What industries will Backside Contact to a Final Substrate impact?"},{"answer":"The patent titled \"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate\" was filed on **September 23, 2016**. It was subsequently published and granted on **December 26, 2017**, under the patent number US-9852944.\n\nThe period between the filing date and the publication/grant date is typical for the patent examination process, during which patent examiners review the application for novelty, non-obviousness, and utility against prior art. The grant of the patent on December 26, 2017, signifies that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recognized the unique and inventive nature of the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate methodology. This timeline demonstrates a relatively swift examination process, suggesting the innovation's clear distinction from existing technologies.\n\nHaving been granted, the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate patent provides its owner with exclusive rights to the invention for a period, typically 20 years from the earliest filing date. This protects the intellectual property and allows the owner to commercialize, license, or enforce the patent rights within the specified jurisdiction. The publication of the patent also makes the technical details publicly available, contributing to the body of knowledge in semiconductor manufacturing while also serving as a reference for future innovations.","question":"When was Backside Contact to a Final Substrate filed/granted?"},{"answer":"The commercial applications of the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) are extensive, spanning across various high-growth sectors of the electronics industry due to its ability to enhance chip performance, density, and reliability.\n\nOne primary application is in **High-Performance Processors**, including CPUs, GPUs, and specialized accelerators for data centers and supercomputers. By enabling superior power delivery and thermal management, this technology allows these processors to operate at higher frequencies with greater stability, crucial for demanding computational tasks. Secondly, it is vital for **Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hardware**, particularly for training and inference engines. AI chips require immense processing power and efficient interconnects, which the backside contact method provides, leading to faster AI model execution and more energy-efficient AI systems.\n\nThirdly, **Advanced Memory Solutions**, such as 3D stacked DRAM (e.g., HBM), can leverage this technology for more efficient power and ground connections, further boosting memory bandwidth and overall system performance. Fourthly, in **Mobile and IoT Devices**, the ability to create smaller, more power-efficient chips with higher functionality is paramount. This innovation can lead to next-generation smartphones, wearables, and smart sensors that are more compact, consume less power, and offer enhanced capabilities. Finally, **Automotive Electronics**, especially for autonomous driving and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), will benefit from the increased reliability and performance of chips powered by the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate, enabling safer and more sophisticated vehicle systems. This patent is a foundational technology for a wide array of future electronic products.","question":"What are the commercial applications of Backside Contact to a Final Substrate?"},{"answer":"Future developments for the Backside Contact to a Final Substrate (US-9852944) are expected to center around further optimization, broader integration, and expansion into emerging technologies. We anticipate advancements in several key areas.\n\nFirstly, **process refinement and scaling** will continue. Engineers will work to achieve even finer pitch backside contacts, enabling higher interconnect densities and further miniaturization. This includes optimizing etching processes for greater precision and uniformity, as well as developing advanced bonding techniques for seamless integration of diverse materials and chiplets. Secondly, **integration with novel materials and architectures** is expected. This could involve using new conductive materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes, 2D materials) for the electrical connections to achieve even lower resistance, or integrating the backside contact approach with advanced cooling solutions for extreme thermal management in high-power 3D stacks. The 'final substrate' itself might evolve to include integrated active components or microfluidic cooling channels.\n\nThirdly, **enabling true heterogeneous integration** will be a major focus. The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate will be a cornerstone for combining chiplets from different process nodes and material systems (e.g., silicon logic, GaAs RF, SiC power, photonic devices) into highly optimized System-in-Package (SiP) solutions. This will drive new functionalities and performance levels previously unattainable. Finally, **application expansion** into areas like quantum computing, advanced neuromorphic computing, and specialized sensor arrays is anticipated. These emerging fields require unprecedented levels of integration and power efficiency, for which the backside contact methodology will be crucial. The Backside Contact to a Final Substrate is not a static invention but a foundational technology that will evolve to meet the ever-increasing demands of the digital age.","question":"What are the future developments expected for Backside Contact to a Final Substrate?"}],"topics":["backside contact","final substrate","silicon-on-insulator","SOI","buried insulator","quest","enhanced","performance"],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Backside Contact to a Final Substrate - Patent US-9852944","description":"Discover the 'Backside Contact to a Final Substrate' patent (US-9852944) for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Enhances chip performance, density, and thermal management.","keywords":["backside contact","final substrate","silicon-on-insulator","SOI","buried insulator","electrical connection","semiconductor manufacturing","microelectronics","advanced packaging","device structures","3D integration","chip design","patent US-9852944"]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852944","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852944","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Backside contact to a final substrate\" (US-9852944). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852944","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852944","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9852944","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T05:35:50.759Z"}