[SI-LIST] Re: 6 layers stackup

  • From: Scott McMorrow <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: steve weir <weirsi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:25:17 -0500

Well, i stand corrected.  However the other calculations still hold.   
Capacitor inductance does matter quite a bit.
Scott McMorrow
Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC
121 North River Drive
Narragansett, RI 02882
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steve weir wrote:
> Scott, Lee's metric is for a single via.  He divides that by the total 
> number of vias.  So for example, an 0402 with two vias he would factor 
> at 35pH / 2 or 17.5pH / mil.  It's a little low versus the theoretical 
> value of 21pH / mil for 10mil drills on 1mm pitch, but is in the ballpark..
>
> Best Regards,
>
>
> Steve.
>
> Scott McMorrow wrote:
>   
>> Lee,
>>
>> That depends on your via size, spacing and where the planes are 
>> located w.r.t. the capacitor.  The via pair inductance is:
>>
>> Lmounting vias - 5.08 pH/mil x 2 x H x ln(2S/D)
>>
>> as reported by Howard Johnson from a closed form solution.
>>
>> where
>>
>> H is the length of the vias in the plane cavities
>> S is the center to center via separation
>> D is the via diameter
>>
>> If we use 10 mil vias at a 30 mil spacing, then our inductance is
>>
>> 18.2 pH/mil
>>
>> If we use 15 mil vias at 40 mil spacing, our inductance is:
>>
>> 17pH/mil
>>
>> To get your number of 35 pH/mil, we would need to use 10 mil vias and 
>> space them approximately 150 mils apart.  So, to start with, your 
>> approximate via inductance is high by a factor of 2 to 1.
>>
>> 15 to 20 pH is a much better number for vias on well-mounted 
>> capacitors.  So, if we place the planes at 3 mil and 7 mil below the 
>> surface of the board where the capacitors are mounted, the via 
>> inductance is 140 pH.  Certainly this is less than the inductance of 
>> an 0402 capacitor, which is approximately 450 pH.  A so-called "magic 
>> capacitor", with an inductance of 120 pH would most necessarily 
>> provide a significant reduction in total mounted inductance.  Last I 
>> checked
>> 120 + 140 is much less than 450 + 140.   In addition, those "magic 
>> capacitors" take advantage of mutual inductance coupling between the 
>> vias, while using more vias, by a factor of about 4:1 (5 pH/mil vs. 20 
>> pH/mil). In which case the inductance for the "magic capacitor" 
>> solution is:
>>
>> 120 pH + 35 pH = 155 pH
>>
>> Last time I measured this and simulated this
>>
>> 155 pH is << than 590 pH, or about 3.8:1 difference.
>>
>> Since the ratio of vias used for an X2Y capacitor vs an 0402 is 6:2 or 
>> 3:1.  The via inductance efficiency ratio is;
>>
>> 1.27:1
>>
>> That is, an X2Y capacitor is at least 1.27 times more efficient in 
>> using vias than an 0402 capacitor.
>>
>> This has been confirmed multiple times by measurements and by 
>> electromagnetic simulation.
>>
>> Now, I do agree that the further down you reach into the cavity, the 
>> less benefit that you get.  However, the via efficiency ratio of 
>> "magic capacitors" continue to be significantly better than 
>> conventional MLCC capacitors, no matter where the planes are placed in 
>> the stack.
>>
>>
>> regards,
>>
>> Scott
>>
>>
>> Scott McMorrow
>> Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC
>> 121 North River Drive
>> Narragansett, RI 02882
>> (401) 284-1827 Business
>> (401) 284-1840 Fax
>>
>> http://www.teraspeed.com
>>
>> Teraspeed® is the registered service mark of
>> Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC
>>   
>>
>>
>> Lee Ritchey wrote:
>>     
>>> I disagree that ultralow inductance capacitors perform significantly better
>>> that standard two leaded capacitors such as 0402 and 0603 due to the added
>>> inductance associated with the mounting pads and mounting vias.  This has
>>> been supported many times by physical measurements on real PCBs and is
>>> documented in my book, "Right the First Time, A Practical Handbook on High
>>> Speed PCB and Systetm Design" as well as in several other sources.
>>>
>>> I am mystified at how it can be claimed that this is not so when the
>>> inductance of the vias connecting capacitors to the associated planes
>>> averages something like 35 pH per mil of length- no matter what  kind of
>>> magical capacitor they are connected to.  It is especially true when one is
>>> speaking of a six layer PCB that has planes 20-40 mils below the surface. 
>>> That is 0.7 nH to 1.4 nH per lead.  Even if the capacitor has 0.1 nH
>>> inductance as an IDC capacitor is said to have, the total inductance is
>>> driven up near 1 nH.  How can any capacitor make this go away?
>>>
>>> It is time to stop pretending that there are magic capacitors out there.
>>>
>>> Lee Ritchey
>>> Speeding Edge.
>>>
>>>
>>>   
>>>       
>>>> [Original Message]
>>>> From: steve weir <weirsi@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> To: QU Perry <Perry.Qu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Cc: <si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Date: 2/25/2008 11:52:30 AM
>>>> Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: 6 layers stackup
>>>>
>>>> Perry, the discussion has been limited to 4/6 layer boards with a single 
>>>> symmetric power cavity.  The Z axis inductance for an IC or bypass cap 
>>>> to the cavity depends on the distance to the center of the cavity.  With 
>>>> a single, symmetric cavity, that is going to be half the board 
>>>> thickness.  This is not to be confused with higher layer count boards 
>>>> where we can place at least one modestly thin cavity near the IC / 
>>>> capacitor mounting surface.  In all cases, the cavity spreading 
>>>> inductance becomes a limiting factor in PDN impedance.  Cavity impedance 
>>>> varies directly with cavity height.
>>>>
>>>> In the case of any almost thickness PCB, the via attachment structure is 
>>>> a significant, if not dominant contributor to the mounted capacitor 
>>>> inductance, that is the inductance as seen at that attachment point at 
>>>> the planes.  Capacitors like X2Y(r)'s, and IDC(r)'s when properly 
>>>> attached yield much lower inductance than discrete caps.  This is 
>>>> readily modeled in any number of tools, and confirmed by properly 
>>>> constructed experiments.  So low inductance caps still work, whether or 
>>>> not you have a thin cavity, and whether or not the cavity is adjacent to 
>>>> the caps.
>>>>
>>>> We are talking about two different resonances.  The resonance that you 
>>>> are referring to are the half-wave modes.  I am talking about the 
>>>> parallel resonance between the bypass network and the power cavity.  
>>>> This is the beast that eats most people's lunch.  It is a matter of 
>>>> capacitance per unit area of the cavity which depends directly on 
>>>> height, and the area / unit inductance of the bypass network.
>>>>
>>>> Best Regards,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Steve.
>>>>
>>>> QU Perry wrote:
>>>>     
>>>>         
>>>>> Steve:
>>>>>
>>>>> My understanding on the impact of thinner power cavity is mainly the
>>>>> reduction of spread inductance, such that any added benefit of IDC/X2Y
>>>>> placed at the peripheral of BGA will not be compromised by the planes..
>>>>> In most applications however, we rely heavily on the decoupling caps
>>>>> (0402) directly placed underneath BGAs, and in those cases, I would
>>>>> think thickness of power cavity is not important as the total inductance
>>>>> looking into PCB from BGA pads to the planes and to the decoupling caps
>>>>> don't change. Your thoughts ?
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm also not clear when you say parallel resonance frequency is driven
>>>>> by thickness. Comparing Z dimension vs. X/Y for a normal power plane/PCB
>>>>> thickness, I would say the resonance frequency is mainly determined by
>>>>> how big the plane is not how thick the cavity ?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>
>>>>> Perry
>>>>>
>>>>> ======================================= 
>>>>>
>>>>> Perry Qu 
>>>>>
>>>>> Design & Qualification, Alcatel-Lucent Canada Inc.
>>>>>
>>>>> 600 March Road, Ottawa ON, K2K 2E6, Canada 
>>>>>
>>>>> DID: 613-7846720  Fax: 613-5993642 
>>>>>
>>>>> Email: perry.qu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>>>>>
>>>>> ======================================= 
>>>>>
>>>>>  
>>>>>
>>>>>   
>>>>>       
>>>>>           
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
>>>>>> [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of steve weir
>>>>>> Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 6:44 PM
>>>>>> To: DAVID CUTHBERT
>>>>>> Cc: Fernando Yuitiro Mori; si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>> Subject: [SI-LIST] Re: 6 layers stackup
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dave, Fernando my $0.02 on 4/6 layer stack-ups with a single 
>>>>>> symmetric power cavity:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1) The Z-axis inductance seen at the IC solder pads to the 
>>>>>> power cavity is pretty much fixed by:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> a. The total thickness of the PCB.
>>>>>> b. The pin-out of the IC.
>>>>>> c. The via drill diameter.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2) Similarly the Z-axis inductance seen between the bypass 
>>>>>> caps and the power cavity is fixed by:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> a. The total thickness of the PCB.
>>>>>> b. The type of bypass capacitors used.
>>>>>> c. The via pattern used w/ the bypass caps.
>>>>>> d. The via drill diameter.
>>>>>> e. The areal density of the bypass caps used.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> b/c/d Determine the mounted inductance of each cap.  X2Y(r)'s 
>>>>>> and IDC(r)'s yield the best results.  In all cases the via 
>>>>>> pattern used makes a big difference in the number of caps 
>>>>>> used and the behavior at parallel resonance.  In my mind it 
>>>>>> is a lot better to floor plan bypass caps w/ optimal via 
>>>>>> patterns up front, than to have the PCB designer try to fit 
>>>>>> them in later.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 3) As the power cavity is made thinner, six notable things happen:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> a. The horizontal spreading inductance of the planes falls.  
>>>>>> The extremes for six layer 0.062" stack-ups can be almost 
>>>>>> 10:1 going from a
>>>>>> 4 mil to a 38 mil power core.
>>>>>> b. The high frequency impedance of the power system comes 
>>>>>> down.  On the bad side one will be in PCB wave effects at 
>>>>>> lower frequencies.  Detuning w/ discretes takes about the 
>>>>>> same number of parts independent of the cavity thickness.  
>>>>>> Tolerances are more forgiving for the thinner cavity.
>>>>>> c. The parallel resonant frequency of the power system comes 
>>>>>> down as the square root of the power cavity thickness.  
>>>>>> Typical resonant frequencies typically vary over a 300MHz to 
>>>>>> 1.5GHz range depending on bypass scheme over the 4mil to 
>>>>>> 38mil cavity thicknesses.
>>>>>> d. The Q of the parallel resonance goes up.  On the good 
>>>>>> side, higher Qs 
>>>>>> are generally easier to detune.   The bad side is that the natural 
>>>>>> magnitude of Zpeak is fairly independent of the cavity 
>>>>>> thickness, now it is much more likely to be where there is 
>>>>>> more signal energy.  The moral here is:  detune the resonance.
>>>>>> e. Above and below the resonant frequency noise attenuation improves..
>>>>>> f. The asymmetry between outer and inner routing layers in a 
>>>>>> 6 layer stack-up become more pronounced and routing density 
>>>>>> can suffer severely.  Maintaining 50Ohms and/or acceptable 
>>>>>> cross talk values on outer layers more than about 10 mils 
>>>>>> from an image plane demands some rather wide traces and 
>>>>>> routing pitches.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 4) An S1 G S2 S3 P S4 stack-up works best when the highest 
>>>>>> speed signals can be broken out and routed completely on S1.  
>>>>>> Otherwise S1 P S2 S3 G
>>>>>> S4 is usually better breaking out high speed signals on layer 
>>>>>> S4 first and layer S3 second, minimizing via stubs.  In 
>>>>>> either case prioritizing the traces with the most high speed 
>>>>>> energy to the routing layer(s) adjacent an image plane 
>>>>>> connected to the dominant coupling rail in the IC will help 
>>>>>> reduce demands on the PDN.  That rail is usually ground.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Best Regards,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Steve.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> DAVID CUTHBERT wrote:
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> Fernando,
>>>>>>> The S1 S2 G P S3 S4 stackup can provide excellent power plane 
>>>>>>> performance at the expense of S1 and S4. Routing S1 and S4 
>>>>>>>       
>>>>>>>           
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> mostly at 
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> right angles to S2 and
>>>>>>> S3 can greatly reduce the crosstalk. And using narrow traces to 
>>>>>>> maintain the Z0 of S1 and S4 will take care of the Z0.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I often use S1 G S2 -  S3 P S4 for 6-layer boards. The 
>>>>>>>       
>>>>>>>           
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> signal traces 
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> are nicely isolated with a 62 mil board having spacing like so:
>>>>>>> 10 mils, 5 mils, 22 mils, 5 mils, 10 mils. The tradeoff is that the 
>>>>>>> power plane Z0 is about 2X that of a board having 10 mils 
>>>>>>>       
>>>>>>>           
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> between each 
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>> layer. The power plane Z0 is still quite low with an inductance of 
>>>>>>> about 200 pH per square. Contrast this to an S1-G via inductance of 
>>>>>>> about 300 pH and the plane Z does not dominate things.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>      Dave Cuthbert
>>>>>>>      NARTE Certified EMC Engineer
>>>>>>>      Consulting, SI, EMC, power electronics, analog of all kinds
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Wed, Feb 20, 2008 at 2:17 PM, Fernando Yuitiro Mori 
>>>>>>> <mori@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>   
>>>>>>>       
>>>>>>>           
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>>> I normally use S1 S2 G P S3 S4 for the 6 layers stackup. I 
>>>>>>>>         
>>>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>>                 
>>>>>> need the 4 
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>> layer with 60 ohms, so there are some problem if I use S1 
>>>>>>>>         
>>>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>>                 
>>>>>> G S2 S3 P S4?
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>             
>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Fernando Mori
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>   
>>>>>>>       
>>>>>>>           
>>>>>>>               
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Steve Weir
>>>>>> Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC
>>>>>> 121 North River Drive
>>>>>> Narragansett, RI 02882 
>>>>>>
>>>>>> California office
>>>>>> (408) 884-3985 Business
>>>>>> (707) 780-1951 Fax
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Main office
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>>>>>>   
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     
>>>>>>         
>>>>>>             
>>>>>   
>>>>>       
>>>>>           
>>>> -- 
>>>> Steve Weir
>>>> Teraspeed Consulting Group LLC 
>>>> 121 North River Drive 
>>>> Narragansett, RI 02882 
>>>>
>>>> California office
>>>> (408) 884-3985 Business
>>>> (707) 780-1951 Fax
>>>>
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>>>> (401) 284-1827 Business 
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>>>> This e-mail contains proprietary and confidential intellectual property
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>>>>         
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