Gate-oxide early-life failure identification using delay shifts

This paper presents experimental data from digital circuits on 90nm test chips, together with circuit simulations, to establish the following results: 1. The presence of a gate-oxide early-life failure (ELF) candidate transistor (also called infant mortality) in a logic gate results in delay shifts over time; 2. Delay shifts can be effective indicators of gate-oxide ELF suspects that may be detected using inexpensive digital techniques. These results can be utilized to overcome scaled-CMOS reliability challenges through effective ELF screening during production test or on-line during system operation for systems with built-in self-healing.