Burn-in stress test of analog CMOS ICs

With the successful development of EVoSTA (Extreme-Voltage Stress Test for Analog CMOS ICs), this paper investigated whether the extreme-temperature burn-in stress test is properly applied for enhancing the gate-oxide reliability of mixed-signal/analog CMOS ICs. Burn-in is an effective screening method used in predicting, achieving, and enhancing field reliability of ICs. Today, almost all IC manufacturers perform 100% burn-in for various durations to screen defective products. However, the major problems associated with burn-in are the determination of exactly how long the burn-in process should continue, balancing appropriately the needs of reliability and the total costs, and what stress vectors should be applied? This paper conducted a feasibility study for resolving such issues.