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Dielectric breakdown in advanced gate stacks in state-of-the-art Si nanoelectronic devices has been one of the key front-end reliability concerns for further CMOS technology downscaling. In this paper, we present the latest findings in using physical analysis techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM)/electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS)/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS),...
Reliability study of high-κ (HK) gate dielectric based transistors has become imperative for the current and future CMOS technology nodes as the industry shifts towards replacement of conventional silicon oxynitride (SiON) with hafnium-based oxides. One of the key requirements of any oxide reliability study is a quantitative assessment of the time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) lifetime using...
In order to achieve aggressive scaling of the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) and simultaneously reduce leakage currents in logic devices, silicon-based oxides (SiON / SiO2) have been replaced by physically thicker high-κ transition metal oxide thin films by many manufacturers starting from the 45 nm technology node. CMOS process compatibility, integration and reliability are the key issues to address...
How can a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor suffer from multiple dielectric breakdowns (BD) with severe structural damages (e.g., local melting and metal migration) remain functional? Our results show that the amorphization of Si in the vicinity of the BD forms an effective p-n diode which prevents terminal short from happening when reverse-biased.
STEM/EELS were used to probe the localized electronic structures of the defective oxide. Our results show that the electronic structures of breakdown oxide are similar to the oxygen deficient suboxide with formation of oxygen vacancies. The understanding of the basic material properties will be helpful for the improvements of the state-of-the-art devices.
Reliability is a key performance indicator of any semiconductor device or circuit fabricated, apart from its other performance parameters such as improved current drive, clocking speed, carrier mobility, fan-in, fan-out, lower power dissipation etc. It is necessary to be able to quantitatively estimate the lifetime of a given circuit based on the accelerated life test data that is usually collected...
Using scanning transmission electron microscope with high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, the chemical nature of the percolation path formed in ultrathin SiON layers is studied for digital and analog breakdown (BD). Our results show that the diameter of the percolation path dilates from 30 nm to 55 nm as the gate leakage current increases from 2 muA to 40 muA. Oxygen deficiency in the...
The effective approach to monitor the health state of equipment has long been a concern of industrial applications. This paper focuses on the categorical data analysis to build equipment degradation model for predicting equipment failure and monitoring the health state of equipment. Since large volumes of categorical data are generated and collected in most manufacturing execution systems, how to...
Post-breakdown reliability forms an important aspect of ultrathin gate dielectric lifetime projection in state-of-the-art MOSFET. In particular, digital breakdown plays a predominant role in the early stage of the dielectric breakdown. In this paper, we review the importance of digital breakdown in SiON gate dielectrics of less than 2.5 nm, the possible underlying mechanism(s) and its impact on the...
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