Discussion group summary report: Thin oxide reliability

A broad range of issues related to thin oxide characterization and reliability prediction were discussed in this group in order to accommodate the varied backgrounds and interests of the participants. A key topic of discussion in both sessions was on the correlation between charge to breakdown, Qbd, and long-term reliability (TDDB). Many participants voiced that Qbd is not a good parameter to estimate the reliability. Some data taken at NIST showed that oxides with the same Qbd can have much different TDDB values. However, some participants expressed that Qbd can be a good parameter in determining variations in oxide quality due to process variations. Although, there is no consensus onwhat percentage drop in Qbd would decide that an oxide is of bad quality.