SEDL / STP / STP1382-EB / STP13481S

Ultra-Thin Film Dielectric Reliability Characterization

Suehle, JS
Electronics Engineer, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Pages: 14    Published: Jan 2000

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Abstract

The reliability of gate oxides is becoming a critical concern as oxide thickness is scaled below 4 nm in future technology. The breakdown detection algorithms in traditional reliability characterization techniques must be modified for sub-4 nm thick SiO² films that exhibit excessive tunneling currents and soft breakdown. It becomes essential to fully understand the physical mechanism(s) responsible for gate oxide wear-out and breakdown if reliability projections are based on the results of highly accelerated wafer-level GOI tests. Issues relating to the reliability testing of ultra-thin oxides are discussed with examples.