Projecting gate oxide reliability and optimizing reliability screens

The effect of time-dependent stress voltage and temperature on the reliability of thin SiO/sub 2/ films is incorporated in a quantitative defect-induced breakdown model. Based on this model, design curves which can be used along with a breakdown voltage distribution for an oxide technology to determine optimal burn-in conditions are presented. The tradeoff between improved reliability and lower burn-in yield for different gate oxide technologies can also be examined quantitatively using the model.<
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