THE RELIABILITY EVALUATION OF THIN SILICON DIOXIDE USING THE STEPPED CURRENT TDDB TECHNIQUE

A wafer level dielectric breakdown reliability measurement technique u sing logarithmically stepped-up stress current density is proposed, an d the effectiveness of this technique is demonstrated. The stepped cur rent time-dependent dielectric breakdown (SCTDDB) measurement starts a t a very low stress current density (10(-5) A/cm(2)), and it steps up logarithmically to a maximum stress current density (1.0 A/cm(2)) unti l oxide breakdown occurs. The SCTDDB measurement has high detection se nsitivity for defect-related breakdown, a wide dynamic range (10(-5) t o 10(2) C/cm(2)), adequate measurement time (within 60 s/chip), and da ta compatibility with conventional constant current TDDB result. The S CTDDB technique is a very simple and powerful evaluation tool for thin silicon dioxide reliability analysis.