Plasma-charging damage of floating MIM capacitors

Author

Wang, Zhichun ; Ackaert, Jan ; Salm, Cora ; Kuper, Fred G. ; Tack, Marnix ; De Backer, Eddy ; Coppens, Peter ; De Schepper, Luc ; Vlachakis, Basil

Author_Institution

Twente Univ., Enschede, Netherlands

Volume

51

Issue

6

fYear

2004

fDate

6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1017

Lastpage

1024

Abstract

In this paper, the mechanism of plasma-charging damage (PCD) of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors as well as possible protection schemes are discussed. A range of test structures with different antennas simulating interconnect layout variations have been used to investigate the mechanism of PCD of MIM capacitors. Based on the experimental results, two models are presented, describing the relation between the damage and the ratio of the area of the exposed antennas connected to the MIM capacitors plates. New design rules are proposed in order to predict and automatically flag possible PCD sites. Furthermore, layout solutions to reduce PCD are suggested.

Keywords

MIM devices; antennas in plasma; capacitors; interconnections; surface charging; MIM capacitor plates; PCD reduction; antenna ratio; exposed antennas; floating MIM capacitors; interconnect layout variations; metal-insulator-metal capacitors; plasma-charging damage; protection schemes; BiCMOS integrated circuits; Dielectrics; Integrated circuit reliability; MIM capacitors; Parasitic capacitance; Plasma density; Protection; Q factor; Radio frequency; Voltage; AR; Antenna ratio; MIM; PCD; metal–insulator–metal; plasma-charging damage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2004.829518

Filename

1300839