Title :
Constant current charge-to-breakdown: Still a valid tool to study the reliability of MOS structures?
Author :
Nigam, T. ; Degraeve, R. ; Groeseneken, G. ; Heyns, M.M. ; Maes, H.E.
Author_Institution :
IMEC, Leuven, Belgium
fDate :
March 31 1998-April 2 1998
Abstract :
It is shown that the conventional interpretation of constant current Q/sub BD/ to evaluate the influence of process variations on the reliability of MOS structures can lead to erroneous conclusions. For a fixed thickness, the comparison of Q/sub BD/-distributions of all processes that affect the breakdown statistics becomes even meaningless. For ultra-thin oxides, the impact of different processing conditions requires constant gate voltage instead of constant current density Q/sub BD/-tests.
Keywords :
MOS capacitors; MOS integrated circuits; dielectric thin films; electric breakdown; electric charge; electric current; integrated circuit reliability; integrated circuit testing; MOS capacitor structures; MOS structures; Si; SiO/sub 2/-Si; breakdown statistics; constant current Q/sub BD/; constant current charge-to-breakdown testing; constant current density Q/sub BD/-tests; constant gate voltage tests; dielectric thickness; process Q/sub BD/-distribution; process variations; processing conditions; reliability; ultra-thin oxides; Annealing; Design for quality; Dielectric substrates; Electric breakdown; Electrons; Oxidation; Statistics; Stress; Testing; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Reliability Physics Symposium Proceedings, 1998. 36th Annual. 1998 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Reno, NV, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4400-6
DOI :
10.1109/RELPHY.1998.670444
