The VLSI Design Evolution and Emerging Trends in CMOS, 3D Integration, and AI-Assisted EDA

Abstract

The development of Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) design has followed three connected elements which include continuous device scaling and architectural diversification and methodological intelligence growth. The three forces have successively expanded what designers can achieve through performance improvements and power efficiency gains and design complexity increases. The initial development period focused on scaling-based optimization which used transistor size reduction to follow Moore's and Dennard's laws for achieving better speed and density performance. The emergence of physical and power constraints led to a transition to three-dimensional integration and material breakthroughs including Fin Field-Effect Transistors (FinFETs) and gate-all-around devices and carbon nanotube transistors. Artificial intelligence entered the third phase to transform electronic design automation (EDA) through data-driven optimization and reliability assessment and design space exploration. The review demonstrates how VLSI foundations have developed through physical scaling to intelligent automation while showing the path toward post-Moore computing systems that combine advanced architectures with new materials and cognitive design approaches.