Simulating degradation of TDDB lifetime due to burn-in using pre-conditioning pulses

TDDB (time-dependent-dielectric-breakdown) method used to predict the gate oxide lifetime is based on DC stress. But the product-level burn-in tests are done with AC stress pulses applied to the chip. DC lifetime does not predict the effect of burn-in on oxide reliability. In this paper pre-conditioning pulses are used to simulate burn-in effects. It was observed that the pre-conditioning causes decrease in gate oxide lifetime of thinner oxides as compared to thicker oxides. Also, time-to-breakdown data from preconditioned devices fits well with E-model. No significant increase in interface trap generation is observed due to pre-conditioning pulses.