Title :
Technology Scaling Effect on the Relative Impact of NBTI and Process Variation on the Reliability of Digital Circuits
Author :
Vaidyanathan, Balaji ; Oates, Anthony S.
Author_Institution :
Taiwan Semicond. Manuf. Co., Hsinchu, Taiwan
fDate :
6/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The impact of negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) on circuit reliability is typically assessed without accounting for the variability associated with the manufacturing process. With technology progression, manufacturing process variability scales more aggressively than transistor NBTI lifetime. Hence, a clear link between transistor and circuit reliability that takes variability into account is imperative to analyze circuit reliability. We propose a figure of merit termed fall-out to describe the proportion of circuits whose frequencies would exceed the initial manufacturing distribution. We use fall-out to assess NBTI and process variability in tandem, and we show that the fall-out of circuit frequency (or timing delay) peaks and diminishes as technology scales. We propose that the fall-out of a ring oscillator can be used as a worst-case indicator of circuit reliability in any given technology.
Keywords :
circuit reliability; digital circuits; monolithic integrated circuits; oscillators; stability; transistors; NBTI; circuit frequency; digital circuit reliability; initial manufacturing distribution; manufacturing process variability scale; negative bias temperature instability; process variation; relative impact; ring oscillator; technology scaling effect; worst-case indicator; Aging; Degradation; Delay; Integrated circuit modeling; Integrated circuit reliability; Transistors; Circuit; negative bias temperature instability (NBTI); process variation; reliability;
Journal_Title :
Device and Materials Reliability, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TDMR.2012.2189402