INVESTIGATION OF THE INTRINSIC SIO2 AREA DEPENDENCE USING TDDB TESTING AND MODEL INTEGRATION INTO THE DESIGN PROCESS

This paper models the area dependency for thin SiO2 films (1.2E-7 to 1 E-2 cm(2)) using Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown testing over a wi de range of electric fields and test temperatures. The data generated indicates that the field and temperature acceleration factors are the same for all the areas tested indicating that the failure mechanism is the same even though the times to failure are different for all the a rea sizes. The paper will explain and model the area effect on TDDB li fetime and use the model to predict gate oxide reliability in the desi gn cycle. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.