DocumentCode :
186671
Title :
Diagnosing bias runaway in analog/mixed signal circuits
Author :
Sutaria, Ketul B. ; Pengpeng Ren ; Ramkumar, A. ; Rongjun Zhu ; Xixiang Feng ; Runsheng Wang ; Ru Huang ; Yu Cao
Author_Institution :
Sch. of ECEE, Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ, USA
fYear :
2014
fDate :
1-5 June 2014
Abstract :
The degradation of IC reliability is usually a gradual process. However, under some specific circumstance, the degradation rate can be dramatically accelerated, leading to a destructive result. Bias runaway, referring to the rapid increase of the bias voltage in analog/mixed signal (AMS) circuits, is such a case. It occurs when the feedback between the bias current and the effect of channel hot carrier (CHC) turns into positive and thus, uncontrollable. Such a catastrophic phenomenon is highly sensitive to the initial operation condition, as well as transistor gate length. Based on 65nm silicon data, this paper (1) investigates the critical condition that triggers bias runaway, and the impact of gate length tuning, (2) develops compact models and the simulation methodology for circuit diagnosis, and (3) proposes design solutions and the trade-offs to avoid bias runaway. Overall, this work identifies a key issue to the stability of bias generation circuits, which is vitally important to reliable AMS designs.
Keywords :
integrated circuit reliability; mixed analogue-digital integrated circuits; AMS designs; CHC; IC reliability; analog-mixed signal circuits; bias current; bias generation circuits; bias runaway diagnosis; bias voltage; channel hot carrier; circuit diagnosis; degradation rate; gate length tuning; silicon data; simulation methodology; size 65 nm; Aging; Degradation; Integrated circuit modeling; Logic gates; Mathematical model; Reliability; Transistors; Analog and Mixed Signal aging; Bias Runaway; CHC; Simulation Methodology;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Reliability Physics Symposium, 2014 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Waikoloa, HI
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/IRPS.2014.6860595
Filename :
6860595
Link To Document :
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