Modeling subthreshold leakage and thermal stability in a production life test environment

Increased subthreshold leakage, inherent with decreasing transistor dimensions, has proven to be a manufacturability challenge within many areas of the semiconductor industry. One such challenge is maintaining device thermal stability during the device testing process. By understanding the relationship between subthreshold leakage and device junction temperature, it is possible to determine the thermal characteristics of the device. The thermal characteristics can then be applied to establish optimum conditions for achieving device thermal stability in the most challenging environment of the test process, burn-in. The paper presents a cost and manufacturing resource conscious method for predicting device thermal stability based on device specific data that may be obtained in the existing production test environment.