Title :
A thorough investigation of progressive breakdown in ultra-thin oxides. Physical understanding and application for industrial reliability assessment
Author :
Monsieur, F. ; Vincent, E. ; Roy, D. ; Bruyere, S. ; Vildeuil, J.C. ; Pananakakis, G. ; Ghibaudo, G.
Author_Institution :
Central R&D Labs., STMicroelectronics, Crolles, France
Abstract :
This paper provides a close investigation of the gate oxide failure for thickness below 24Å. At first, the failure detection is discussed showing that its manifestation is not catastrophic any more. Then, the wear-out beginning at the failure occurrence is studied. It highlights the path conduction aging whose progressiveness is found to be mainly gate voltage driven. At last, progressiveness dynamics is investigated and a methodology is developed to rigorously relax the reliability criterion following applications.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; ageing; failure analysis; integrated circuit reliability; semiconductor device breakdown; 0 to 24 angstrom; CMOS; failure detection; gate oxide failure; gate voltage driven; industrial reliability assessment; path conduction aging; progressive breakdown; progressiveness dynamics; reliability criterion; ultra-thin oxides; wear-out; Aging; CMOS technology; Capacitors; Degradation; Delay; Electric breakdown; MOS devices; Research and development; Stress; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Reliability Physics Symposium Proceedings, 2002. 40th Annual
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7352-9
DOI :
10.1109/RELPHY.2002.996609
