Digital System Design: CAD, HDLs, and VLSI Fundamentals

Evolution of CAD Tools & HDLs in Digital System Design

The journey of digital circuits began with fundamental components, evolving significantly over time:

  • Early Circuits: Digital circuits initially relied on vacuum tubes and transistors.
  • Small-Scale Integration (SSI): The first integrated circuits (ICs) were SSI, containing only a few logic gates.
  • Medium-Scale Integration (MSI): This era introduced chips with hundreds of gates.
  • Large-Scale Integration (LSI): Thousands of gates could be integrated
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Semiconductor Threshold Voltage Control & Ion Implantation

This document details various parameters that can be adjusted to change the threshold voltage (VT) in semiconductor devices, along with an explanation of how ion implantation affects VT.

Threshold Voltage Adjustment Parameters

The threshold voltage (VT) of a semiconductor device, such as a MOSFET, can be precisely controlled by adjusting several key parameters:

  • Doping Concentration (Nsub): Doping concentration in the substrate affects the threshold voltage. Increasing the substrate’s doping concentration

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VLSI Design Fundamentals and Fabrication

Module 1 – VLSI Design Methodologies

VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) integrates thousands to millions of transistors on a single chip, drastically reducing size, cost, and power consumption.

Moore’s Law states the number of transistors in a dense IC doubles approximately every 18 months. The Second Law states the cost of a semiconductor fabrication plant doubles every 4 years.

Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC)

An ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) is a custom IC designed

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