The Understanding and Compact Modeling of Reliability in Modern Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors: From Single-Mode to Mixed-Mode Mechanisms

Abstract

With the technological scaling of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and the scarcity of circuit design margins, the characteristics of device reliability have garnered widespread attention. Traditional single-mode reliability mechanisms and modeling are less sufficient to meet the demands of resilient circuit designs. Mixed-mode reliability mechanisms and modeling have become a focal point of future designs for reliability. This paper reviews the mechanisms and compact aging models of mixed-mode reliability. The mechanism and modeling method of mixed-mode reliability are discussed, including hot carrier degradation (HCD) with self-heating effect, mixed-mode aging of HCD and Bias Temperature Instability (BTI), off-state degradation (OSD), on-state time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB), and metal electromigration (EM). The impact of alternating HCD-BTI stress conditions is also discussed. The results indicate that single-mode reliability analysis is insufficient for predicting the lifetime of advanced technology and circuits and provides guidance for future mixed-mode reliability analysis and modeling.

Keywords

• MOSFET
• mixed-mode reliability
• hot carrier degradation (HCD)
• bias temperature instability (BTI)
• self-heating
• off-state degradation (OSD)