Patent ID: 8076764

Claim:
A semiconductor device comprising: a plurality of semiconductor chips, each of which comprises, a semiconductor substrate, made of a semiconductor material, including a first main surface and a second main surface opposite to the first main surface; a plurality of penetration electrodes, each of the penetration electrodes penetrating the semiconductor substrate from the first main surface to the second main surface and including a first end portion on a side of the first main surface and a second end portion on a side of the second main surface, the plurality of penetration electrodes including a first set of penetration electrodes and a second set of penetration electrodes, a set of surface electrodes formed on the side of the first surface of the semiconductor substrate, an operation circuit formed on the side of the first main surface of the semiconductor substrate, the operation circuit being electrically connected to the first set of penetration electrodes and the set of surface electrodes and converting first information at the first set of penetration electrodes into second information and producing the second information at the set of surface electrodes, and a comparison circuit formed on the side of the first main surface of the semiconductor substrate, the comparison circuit being electrically connected to the first and second sets of penetration electrodes and comparing the first information at the first set of penetration electrodes with third information at the second set of penetration electrodes to detect whether or not the first information is identical with the third information; and the plurality of semiconductor chips being stacked with one another such that each of the set of surface electrodes of a lower one of the semiconductor chips is electrically connected to the second end portion of an associated one of the first set of penetration electrodes of an upper one of the semiconductor chips to supply the second information of the lower one of the semiconductor chip to the upper one of the semiconductor chip as the first information thereof, and the first end portion of each of the second set of penetration electrodes of the lower one of the semiconductor chips is electrically connected to the second end portion of an associated one of the second set of penetration electrodes of the upper one of the semiconductor chips, the lowermost one of the semiconductor chips being supplied with chip identification information at the second end portion of each of the first set of penetration electrodes thereof as the first information thereof.