A Compact Model for Oxide Breakdown Failure Distribution in Ultrathin Oxides Showing Progressive Breakdown

The cumulative distribution of the failure time, which includes the time to first breakdown (BD) and the progressive current growth time, is the function of interest for reliability of ultrathin gate oxides. Depending on oxide area and stress conditions, oxide failure is determined by a single BD spot or by multiple competing spots. In this letter, we present an analytical compact model for the final failure distribution which is valid for any failure percentile and which is applicable to both the single and the multiple BD spot limits. This model is intended to be the core of a reliability assessment methodology either for the SiO₂-based or high-k gate insulators of interest for the hp45 technology node and beyond.