论文信息 - Successive breakdown events and their relation with soft and hard breakdown modes

Successive breakdown events and their relation with soft and hard breakdown modes

Two alternative statistical descriptions of device and chip failure by multiple breakdown events in thin-oxide MOS devices are compared: the successive breakdown approach and the hard-breakdown prevalence ratio method. Both methods are demonstrated to be compatible descriptions of the experimental breakdown data. It is confirmed that the successive breakdown events are uncorrelated and that the relative probability of soft and hard breakdown is independent of the time to breakdown and of the number of previous breakdown events. As a consequence, the prevalence ratio concept is applied to the distribution of successive events, thus closing the loop of a fully consistent picture. Applications of these statistical methods to reliability assessment are discussed, and the criterion that should guide the choice of methodology is established.

E.Y. Wu | J. Sune

[1] J. Stathis,et al. A model for gate-oxide breakdown in CMOS inverters , 2003, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[2] E. Nowak,et al. Weibull breakdown characteristics and oxide thickness uniformity , 2000 .

[3] M.A. Alam,et al. Statistically independent soft breakdowns redefine oxide reliability specifications , 2002, Digest. International Electron Devices Meeting,.

[4] K. Okada. The gate oxide lifetime limited by `B-mode' stress induced leakage current and the scaling limit of silicon dioxides in the direct tunnelling regime , 2000 .

[5] Marc Porti,et al. Current limited stresses of SiO/sub 2/ gate oxides with conductive atomic force microscope , 2003 .

[6] J. Sune,et al. Statistics of successive breakdown events for ultra-thin gate oxides , 2002, Digest. International Electron Devices Meeting,.

[7] M. Alam,et al. The statistical distribution of percolation resistance as a probe into the mechanics of ultra-thin oxide breakdown , 2000, International Electron Devices Meeting 2000. Technical Digest. IEDM (Cat. No.00CH37138).

[8] S. Lombardo,et al. Voltage dependence of hard breakdown growth and the reliability implication in thin dielectrics , 2002, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[9] D. Jimenez,et al. Understanding soft and hard breakdown statistics, prevalence ratios and energy dissipation during breakdown runaway , 2001, International Electron Devices Meeting. Technical Digest (Cat. No.01CH37224).