The Many Aspects of Semiconductor Reliability with Impact on ESD Design - In Compliance Magazine

Many articles published in In Compliance focus on Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD design and testing methods. But there is a lot more to SemiconductorA material whose electrical conductivity is poor at low temperatures but is improved by minute additions of certain substances or by the application of heat, light, or voltage. In its pure form it has electrical conductivity that is usually between that of a metal (such as copper) and that of an insulator (such as glass). Semiconductors are the foundation of modern solid state electronics, including transistors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes(LEDs), quantum dots and digital and analog integrated circuits." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/semiconductor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">semiconductor reliability. Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD reliability is based on the understanding of the high current behavior of protection devices. Protection designs are implemented in the IC to meet the Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD targets. This approach is not feasible for most of the other SemiconductorA material whose electrical conductivity is poor at low temperatures but is improved by minute additions of certain substances or by the application of heat, light, or voltage. In its pure form it has electrical conductivity that is usually between that of a metal (such as copper) and that of an insulator (such as glass). Semiconductors are the foundation of modern solid state electronics, including transistors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes(LEDs), quantum dots and digital and analog integrated circuits." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/semiconductor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">semiconductor reliability phenomena. In contrast to Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD, the actual understanding and definition of SemiconductorA material whose electrical conductivity is poor at low temperatures but is improved by minute additions of certain substances or by the application of heat, light, or voltage. In its pure form it has electrical conductivity that is usually between that of a metal (such as copper) and that of an insulator (such as glass). Semiconductors are the foundation of modern solid state electronics, including transistors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes(LEDs), quantum dots and digital and analog integrated circuits." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/semiconductor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">semiconductor reliability for field applications is less precise. It requires the understanding of device physics and reliability models. These models are mostly established and allow with some confidence to predict the IC device lifetime during field applications. In this article, we will have a look at different reliability phenomena and models and their contribution to the overall SemiconductorA material whose electrical conductivity is poor at low temperatures but is improved by minute additions of certain substances or by the application of heat, light, or voltage. In its pure form it has electrical conductivity that is usually between that of a metal (such as copper) and that of an insulator (such as glass). Semiconductors are the foundation of modern solid state electronics, including transistors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes(LEDs), quantum dots and digital and analog integrated circuits." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/semiconductor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">semiconductor reliability. We specifically cite only three representative references here [1-3] although the literature has an immense amount of work on the different reliability aspects, especially exhaustively covered by the technical papers at the International Reliability Physics Symposium for the last five decades.

The major reliability concerns for CMOS technologies include Hot Carrier Injection (HCI), Gate Oxide Reliability (GOX), Electro-migration (EM), Negative Bias TemperatureA numerical measure of hot or cold. Its measurement is by detection of heat radiation or particle velocity or kinetic energy, or by the bulk behavior of athermometric material." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/temperature/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">Temperature Instability (NBTI), and Latchup (LUP). A more uniquely different topic is Electrical Overstress (EOS). EOS is often caused by misapplications as reported by the white paper from the Industry Council [4]. For example, the maximum voltage applied on the supply pin exceeds its absolute maximum voltage rating or AMR. This can cause latchup and high thermal stress and eventually lead to an EOS damage.

Figure 1 links all of these in a visual manner. Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD reliability is purposely placed at the centre although this is not necessarily true for every IC product development. In fact, often Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD is addressed after a reliable process technology is established. As shown in the figure the reliability issues are all interconnected to both EOS and Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD although not necessarily in the same manner or to the same extent. Each of these reliability aspects have to be first considered separately before the connections to Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD and/or EOS can be understood.

HCI (noted as CHC in the figure) is related to degradation of TransistorA semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/transistor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">transistor conductance during long-term operation caused by hot electron injection near a high field drain junction in a TransistorA semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/transistor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">transistor. HCI can be mitigated with engineering of the drain junction with lightly doped drain (LDD) or graded junction implants that reduce the drain Electric FieldThe electric force experienced by a motionless electrically charged test particle at any point in space relative to the source(s) of the field." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electric-field/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">electric field. This improvement is a result of reduced peak substrate current ISUB. Incidentally, ISUB in turn plays a role on Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD and Latchup designs because of its impact on the parasitic bipolar TransistorA semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/transistor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">transistor.

GOX reliability includes two issues: GOX breakdown and time-dependent-dielectric-breakdown (TDDB). GOX breakdown occurs when the applied voltage (or electrical field) exceeds the dielectric strength of the GOX. It can also suffer from a slow breakdown during its lifetime at normal operating voltages. This phenomenon is known as TDDB. Both of them are impacted by Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD stress either in magnitude, duration or in repetition. Therefore, Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD is a serious concern for GOX reliability and the oxide breakdown voltage is a main design input during Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD protection design.

NBTI is a serious concern for CMOS technologies starting at the sub-500nm nodes and for PMOS transistors that mostly operate in gate-to-source voltage mode. It can lead to a degradation of the trans-conductance. Consequently, if a large PMOS TransistorA semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/transistor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">transistor is used as an Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD clamp in MOS conduction mode it should be characterized for NBTI effects.

The parasitic interaction between NMOS and PMOS can form a lateral pnpn device or thyristor. A turn-on of this thyristor during normal IC operation can lead to LUP. Ironically, this pnpn is also used as a well-known Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD protection device, the Silicon Controlled RectifierAn electrical device that converts an alternating current into a direct one by allowing a current to flow through it in one direction only." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/rectifier/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">Rectifier (SCR). The substrate also plays a critical role for Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technologies developed to mitigate LUP in very advanced technology nodes. The use of the buried oxide in SOI technologies can have an adverse impact on Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD due to self-heating effects.

EM is a result of current conduction with a high current density through metal lines. It is strongly impacted by the interconnect technology. During Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD and EOS events a metal line temporarily heats up. This can lead to a degradation of its EM lifetime. To avoid these effects, a reliable Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD design requires sufficient wide metal lines. Both Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD and EOS can also cause contact burnout or via migration. Technology process changes with barrier metals such as Titanium or Tungsten are developed to prevent contact spikes and increase the reliability of these interconnects.

There are also reliability issues at IC package level. Materials, package type, electrical bias, operation TemperatureA numerical measure of hot or cold. Its measurement is by detection of heat radiation or particle velocity or kinetic energy, or by the bulk behavior of athermometric material." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/temperature/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">temperature and environmental conditions during normal operation of the IC can affect the corrosion of metals and mechanical stress in the package during its lifetime.

In conclusion, there are various reliability issues in SemiconductorA material whose electrical conductivity is poor at low temperatures but is improved by minute additions of certain substances or by the application of heat, light, or voltage. In its pure form it has electrical conductivity that is usually between that of a metal (such as copper) and that of an insulator (such as glass). Semiconductors are the foundation of modern solid state electronics, including transistors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes(LEDs), quantum dots and digital and analog integrated circuits." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/semiconductor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">semiconductor devices. In contrast to Electrostatic Discharge [ESD]Sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/electrostatic-discharge/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">ESD, most reliability issues are not solved by design but solely with the help of predictive reliability models. Reliability issues need to be continuously addressed during technology development as technologies further advance into novel TransistorA semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit." href="https://incompliancemag.com/terms/transistor/" data-mobile-support="0" data-gt-translate-attributes="[{"attribute":"data-cmtooltip", "format":"html"}]" tabindex="0" role="link">transistor structures such as FinFETs and Multi-gate devices.

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