A Study of Failure Mechanisms in CMOS & BJT ICs

and Their Effect on Device Reliability.

M.G.Rajesh', Gopika Vinod#, D.Das', P.V.Bhatnagar' Aditya Thaduri and A.K.Venna

and C.K.Pithawa' Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay
*Electronics Division, 'Reactor Safety Division,
BARC, Mumbai, India.

Abstract consideration. Taguchi method is usually employed for finding

The reliability of electronic systems, used in nuclear power plants, is the dominant failure mechanisms in semiconductor devices. By
traditionally estimated with empirical databases such as MIL­
Physics of Failure approach, the factors that affect the
HDBK-217, PRISM etc. These methods assign a constant failure
performance of environmental and electrical parameters with
rate to electronic devices, during their useful life. Currently,
their respective stress levels are identified. By constructing
electronic reliability prediction is moving towards applying the
Physics of Failure approach which considers information on
Taguchi array with these parameters, where output parameters
process, technology, fabrication techniques, materials used, etc. decide the effect of top two dominant failure mechanisms, their
The constant failure rate assumption stems from treating failures as influence on chance of failure can be predicted. This analysis
random events. Electronics division of BARC is engaged in design helps us in making the appropriate modifications considering
& fabrication of CMOS and BJT ICs for nuclear pulse processing both the failure mechanisms for the reliability growth of these
and signal conditioning. New microelectronic devices often exhibit devices. This paper highlights the application of design of
infant mortality and wear-out phenomena while in operation. It
experiments for establishing the dominant failure mechanisms
points to competing degradation mechanisms-electro migration,
towards using Physics of Failure approach in electronic
hot carrier injection, dielectric breakdown etc.-that make a device's
reliability prediction.
useful life different from that predicted by empirical methods.
Understanding the dominant mechanisms that lead to device
failure -Physics of Failure-- is a more realistic approach to II. FAILURE MECHANISMS
reliability prediction. This paper describes common failure
mechanisms- encountered in CMOS and BJT ICs and the efforts The most prominent failure mechanisms for CMOS and BJT
being taken to quantify these effects in an optical-isolator IC -4N36- technology are Hot Carrier Injection (HCI), Electromigration,
which forms a part of the trip generation circuit in neutron flux Temperature Dependent Dielectric Breakdown and Negative
monitoring systems.
Bias Temperature Instability [1-4]. Other mechanisms include
Stress Migration, Radiation effects, Corrosion and thermal &
Keywords- Reliability; Optocoupler; Failure Mechanism; Design of
vibration induced fatigue.
experiments; Physics of failure.

A. Electro Migration (EM)

I. INTRODUCTION
Industries employ different technologies like CMOS, BJT and
BICMOS for various applications. The possibility of failure at
interdependencies of materials, processes, and characteristics
under operating conditions is the major concern which affects
the performance of electronic devices. Failure models of these
devices should address failure mechanisms at various stages
such as wafer, interconnect, package and assembly. The
dominant failure mechanisms and stress parameters need to be
identified.
Design of experiments is an efficient and prominent
methodology for finding the reliability of a given device, as the
experiment provides a proof for the hypothesis under
Failure occurs mainly due to the blocking (or voiding) of
interconnects due to transport momentum at conductor-metal
interface. Sometimes atoms of one conductor pile up against
another conductor to cause short-circuit (Hillock Failure or
Whisker failure). Electro migration happens mostly at higher
current densities (> lOS A/cm2) and elevated temperatures.
Activation energy for this mechanism is around 0.5 - 0.8 eV. In
Al wires and interconnects diffusion of atoms across grain
boundaries leads to electro migration. In Cu wires surface
diffusion dominates. Joule heating of metallic wires often
precipitate electro migration. Black's Equation describes the
time to fail due to electro migration as:
MTTF=ACr)e(�) (1)

978-1-4244-8343-3/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE 425

2010:r International Conference on Reliability, Safety & Hazard (ICRESH-201O)
Where J is current density in the conductor, K is Boltzman's
constant, T is temperature in Kelvin. Aluminium (Ea = 0.6+/-
0.1eV) has good conductivity and provides good electrical
contacts and adherence to substrate. Copper is more robust with
respect to electro migration due to higher activation energy and
better conductivity. Activation energy increases by adding 1%
palladium to Al or Cu interconnects. EM damage is proportional
to current density & decreasing sizes of grain boundaries. If the
grain size exceeds the width of conductor (bamboo wires),better
resistance to electro migration is often displayed. LA Blech had
described a condition that makes wires survive electro migration
if the product of current density and wire length is less than a
process dependent threshold [4].
B. Temperature Dependent Dielectric Breakdown
The oxide film which forms the dielectric in MOS devices fails
shorting the anode and cathode due to the application of electric
field. Time to failure decreases with increasing intensity electric
field and temperature. Two failure models are used to study
TDDB. Decrease in the activation energy leads to electron
reaction rate [2].
E-Model: Large electric fields «10 MV/cm) accelerate field
enhanced thermal bond breakage at silicon-silica interface. The
E-field serves to reduce the activation energy required for
thermal bond breakage and therefore exponentially increases the
reaction rate for failure.
MTTF=AxlO.PExe (��)
� is called temperature dependent field acceleration parameter
and E is the electric field across the oxide film.
The electric field across oxide film causes injection of holes on
anode side causing traps. As trap density increases in oxide,
leakage current also increases, which eventually leads to gate
oxide to break down.
lIE Model: The cause of TDDB, even at low fields, is said to be
due to current through the dielectric by Fowler-Nordheim (FN)
conduction. F-N injected electrons (from the cathode) cause
impact ionization damage of the dielectric as they accelerate
through the dielectric.
Accelerated electrons may produce holes when they reach
anode. The holes tunnel back to dielectric causing damage.
Time to failure shows an exponential dependence on the inverse
of electric field intensity.
G(T)
( )
Eox
TF =
7:0 (T)e
't"o(T) =a temperature dependent pre-factor,- 1 x 10-11 sec
G = field acceleration parameter, - 350 MY/cm with a weak
temperature dependence and Eox = electric field across the
dielectric
C. Hot Carrier Injection
Current carriers gain sufficient energy to cross silicon-silica
interface when electric field is applied. Current micro-electronic
devices feature a ultra thin oxide layers that lead to large electric
fields when operating voltages are applied. It happens when
carriers travel along the channel of a MOSFET (near the drain
end, when devices switch states) or when a BJT device is under
reverse bias (along the passivation layer in a base-emitter
junction). The carriers injected to oxide layer form charge traps
and interface states. HCI manifests as changes in gate threshold
voltage, trans-conductance or saturation current, eventually
leading to severe performance degradation [3].The failure
models that describe Hot Carrier Injection are described below:
i. Drain Avalanche Hot Carrier-DAHC-injection
Electrons injected from source end of a MOSFET lead
to impact ionization at the drain end because of high electric
fields. In this process electron-hole pairs, having sufficient
energy to cross over to gate oxide film are generated.
ii. Channel Hot Electron injection
iii. Secondary Generated Hot Electron- SGHE-injection
lV. Substrate Hot Electron- SHE-injection
t=CxIsub·m and t=Axe·BNds are the time to fail models, where Isub
is the substrate current, m and B are experimentally determined
constants and Vds is the drain to source potential.
(2)
HCI is dominant at lower temperatures [1]. Lower temperatures
lead to charge carriers being localized to the negatively charged
degraded region due to lower thermal energy. Hot carrier
degradation decreases at elevated temperatures due to reduction
of mean free path.
Degradation caused by HCI is numerically given as
P parameter of interest (Gm,Vth,I,.J
A material dependent parameter
t time
n empirically determined exponent which is a function
of stressing voltage, temperature and effective
transistor channel length
D. Negative Bias Temperature Instability (Slow Trap)
NBTI occurs chiefly in p-MOS devices stressed with a negative
gate voltage at elevated temperatures. Holes are thermally
activated to dissociate from defects Si02-substrate interface,
(3) where they are trapped. It happens in a lightly doped drain
structure. NBTI manifests as decrease in absolute drain current
and trans-conductance while the absolute off current and
threshold voltage increase. The stress conditions that precipitate
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2010 2"" International Conference on Reliability, Safety & Hazard (ICRESH-201O)

NBTI are temperatures of 100-250 degree Celsius and oxide
electric fields below 6 MVfcm.
Two models are used to explain NBTI mechanism:
Hole injection into the oxide film by avalanche mechanism and
thermally assisted electron tunneling.
A change in threshold voltage caused by NBTI can be given as
(4)
Where fl and f2 are functions describing time dependence &
gate voltage dependence. Time dependence on Vth can be
logarithmic (Log (t)) or power law based (t"), which is
determined experimentally.
III. STUDY, OPERATION AND TESTING OF 4N36 OPTO­
COUPLERS
A. Introduction
An Opto-coupler (Fig. 1) or optoisolator allows two circuits to
exchange signals yet remain electrically isolated. It consists of
and LED at the input and photo-transistor at the output and the
isolation is implemented by light medium [5].
performance. A significant improvement in coupler reliability
has been reported through improvements in die geometry,
coupling efficiency, metallization techniques, junction coating
techniques thus stabilizing long-term output.
C. Optocoupler Output (Photo-Transistor)
Optocouplers are available with a variety of outputs like bipolar
transistors, MOS, SCR with different ratings to suit particular
applications. There is slow change in the electrical parameters
over time when voltage is applied. Change is extreme at 100
degree Celsius with voltages above lKV. This is due to the
release of charge carriers which results in change of gain, reverse
current and reverse voltage where direction of electric field is
important. To improve characteristics,pn junctions are protected
by transparent ion screen.
D. Experimental Setup
4N36 is an optocoupler packaged as 6-pin DIP. The pins on the
left side refer to LED inputs and on the right side refer to
phototransistor output.

�u (:Iwb;l V;JIl
JPl
�.
:v!-
-...J'v"/---t----+--l

JI'J
PIN I AHOIlt:
2 CATHCOE \�-""'-----'
J 0 CONt.ECllON
� EMil JI::I
r-
·-- l --------�
+w,'
!o .011 r .TOR I------l
,11'4 JP5
6 Hl\SE:

Figure I. Block Diagram of 4N36 Figure 2. Experimental Setup

Current transfer ratio (CTR) is the parameter that matters most to Ageing Tests:
ageing/degradation of opto-couplers. For fixed Vee> CTR is Accelerated wear-out tests are carried out on opto couplers.
defined as inEq. (9) They include LED ageing and ambient temperature effect on
photo-detector.
ICollector
CTR =
(5)
IDiode
Circuit Diagram/or 4N36: Two types of tests are carried out; In
The current transfer ratio (CTR) is the ratio of output current to order to highlight the ageing phenomena CTR is measured
input current. CTR is normally expressed as a percent. CTR is before and after opto couplers are subjected to accelerated
affected by a variety of factors, including LED output power, ageing tests.
hFE of the transistor, temperature, diode current and device
geometry. If all these factors remain constant, the principle cause
of CTR degradation is the degradation/ageing of the input LED.
Other characteristics include Id Vs Vd, transmission speed and
operating temperature range.

B. Optocoupler Input (LED)[8]

The area of greatest concern in optocoupler reliability has been
the performance degradation of infrared LED. The decrease in
LED light output power over current flow affects the Figure 3,Block Diagram for 4N36

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2010 r'International Conference on Reliability, Safety & Hazard (ICRESH-201O)

Optocoupler Parameter Drift: Ageing tests are carried out on the
LED and photo-transistor. Two batches of 20 4N36 ICs are
subjected to ageing tests on a test-fixture shown in figure-2.
Variation of CTR with respect to the input measurement current
on both batches is studied. Degradation of CTR is insignificant
when photo-transistor is stressed. LED ageing causes significant
degradation of CTR which is more pronounced for smaller
currents up to 100 hours. Rate of CTR degradation decreases
after 100 hours.
._a.ldma
tho JoheR "milD 1m It.. .a
efficiency of the LED in the optocoupler. Its quantum efficiency
(photons emitted per electron of input current) decreases with
time at a constant current. The LED current in Eq (8) consists of
two components: diffusion current and a space-charge
recombination current.
V
If(Vf)=AeqvfIKT +Beq fIKT (8)
For a constant current input, if recombination current increases,
then diffusion current, the radiative component, will decrease.
This reduction is due to both current density and junction
temperature. In general, emitter current density is a function of
current, junction geometry, resistivity of both the regions of
diode. Junction temperature is a function of coupler packaging,
power dissipation and temperature. As with current density,high
Tj will increase rapidly in proportion with recombination
current. CTR is expressed as given inEq. (9),

CTR=IOlIf( l 00%) =KR11(If,t)�(Ip,t) (9)

Figure 4. Circuit diagram of 4N36
Where K is transmission factor,R is resistivity of photodetector,
Ageing Parameters: 11is quantum efficiency with function of input current and time
LED ageing has been found to be the cause of long term CTR and � is gain of output amplifier as a function of photo current
degradation. Two parameters are selected to stress the LED so as and time
to degrade CTR; temperature and input current. A batch of opto
couplers will be stressed with high LED current under ambient Temperature variation affects the efficiency and gain. The
temperature and another with high temperatures under low LED normalized CTR is given as in Eq. (10)
current.
ilCTR = ill] + ill] ( oln� )+ il�
(10)
Results: The effect of response times is negligible on both the CTR l] l] olnIp �
tests. But CTR degradation is prominent with LED current 1st term: Major contribution to normalized CTR. In general, it is
stress. So it is deduced that LED current is the parameter that negative over time.
most affects CTR degradation.
2nd term: Second order effect of shift in operating point of
Variation ofCTR with current and time: amplifier as efficiency changes.
From the above results, drift in CTR depends on input current
and time. An opto-coupler is deemed to be failed if CTR reduces 3rd term: Negligible effect with change in gain over time.
to 50% of its nominal value.
LindquistModel [6J:
CTR(O)-CTR(t)
D(t)= (6) Lindquist also suggested a model describing the relative (CTR)
CTR(O)
degradation in terms of ageing current and measurement current
Modeling ofOptocouplers ageing [5J: asEq. (11).
Bajenesco proposed a model for optocoupler ageing in terms of
life time,junction temperature and current through LED. D(%)= j(O)-j(t) =l_eqAvIKT (11)
A j(O)
t1
(7)
--

.�
=

Since the transistor life is longer compared to that of LED, the

KTj
Ie
d opto coupler ageing mainly depends on degradation of LED light
Where tl is lifetime, Id is the ageing (LED) current, Ea is output flux.
Activation Energy,Ea 0.15eV, K is Boltzman constant, Tj is
=
�CTR=�j
junction temperature and A is a constant. (1 2)
CTR

The main cause for CTR degradation is the reduction in

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2010:r International Conference on Reliability, Safety & Hazard (ICRESH-201O)

Where output flux, as in Eq. (13), is a function of efficiency of
opto coupler and diffusion current.
j='11.Idiff ='11.a.eqvIKT
Above model suggests that, CTR degradation increases as
measurement current increases. For direct band gap emitters,the
degradation is due to increase in non-radiative component at
which flux is measured. Current density J (V) in Eq. 14 is a
combination of radiative and non-radiative current densities
J(V)= I(V) =aeqAVIKT +yeqAVI2KT
A assembly area in die attach and wire bond. Opto couplers are
Where a denotes the coefficient of diffusion (Radiation) and y
denotes the coefficient of recombination current (Non­
radiation). Taking the boundary values into consideration in
current density equation,by solving,change in y coefficient with
respect to initial value can be found as Eq.15
l1y =- ( J
2 � sinh QI1V +e"'lAV/2K.T -1
yeO) 0 2KT
in response of photo detector or change in gain of output
amplifier all of which are time dependent. The critical cause is
(13) the result of electrical and thermal stressing of PN junction.
Assuming degradation mechanism establishes a resistive shunt
parallel to active PN Junction. At low values of input current,
shunt path, which offers low resistance, exhibits appreciable
impact on performance. As current increases further, junction
draws more current.
Reliability ofoptocouplers:
(1 4) Reliability of opto couplers is affected by light output of LED,
sometimes encapsulated in transparent plastic packages.
Temperature coefficient of expansion and low glass transition
temperature of unfilled,clear plastics is much greater than that of
other components. Device integrity requires restricted
temperature range of operation and stronger mechanical
construction; some clear plastics build up mechanical stress on
(15) the encapsulated parts during curing. This stress has been
likened to rapid,inconsistent degradation of IRED light output.

Where I; is the ratio of diffusion current to recombination current Although a filled plastic would stop these phenomena, the filler
and is given as in Eq. 16 also spoils the light transmission properties of the plastic. The
(1 6) decrease in quantum efficiency of LEDs is the main reason for
CTR degradation of optocouplers. Other less important causes
of CTR degradation include a decrease in the transmission of the
The degradation-D- of the LED output flux for a given input transparent epoxy, a change in sensitivity of the photodetector
current can be expressed in terms of I; in Eq. 17 and a change in gain of the output amplifier. It is now known that
the rate of CTR degradation is influenced by the materials and
(1+ Ay
J2 processing techniques used to manufacture LED, junction
D(%) = - yeO) 41;0 (1;0+1) temperature and current density through the LED.
1+ -1 (17)
1
100 41;02 ( J2
1+ Ay Iv. DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS
yeO)
where: Ay=y(t)-y(O) & I; is the I; value at y(O) and V(O). Suppose, Input current to LED is the dominant parameter that causes
change in y is proportional to current, dy/dt b.I" then the drift
=
degradation ofCTR for opto couplers. Temperature is the second
model ofCTR is expressed in Eq (18) dominant parameter that degrades CTR. Other parameters like
radiation effects [9] and humidity are of negligible influence.
2
(
1+ b I,.
. t )2 j ( 1)
) Statistically, the effect of both the stress parameters is not
quantified. To define this,the Design of Experiments by Taguchi
t I"Im) 1-
ACTR(, YcO) 1+ 4.Co JC Co JC+ -1 (1 8)
2 2 method is implemented which involves screening of stress
CTR 40C Im
. (
1+ _0_
b I ,_0t ) parameters. It gives the statistical measure of amount of SIN
yeO) (signal to noise ratio) generated by specific parameter at specific
Where t = time in hours, I, = ageing current in A, I", =
level. This also helps in choosing the design parameter for
measurement current in A, y (0) = =
I12
1O-12A, C 80A and b =
extented MTTF of the item.
constant related to optocoupler
Extended TaguchiMethod [1 OJ:
Cause ofCTR Degradation: Item: 4N36 (If: lO rnA, 25C,CTR = 1 00) Ir= (0, 100mA) and T (-
Total photon flux emitted by LED degrades slightly over 55,150C)
operating time of the device. At higher stress currents, change of
light output increased over time. Causes include reduction in Failure Mechanisms: LED ageing stress parameters: Input LED
emitter efficiency, decrease in transmission ratio, and reduction current and Temperature.

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20l0:r International Conference on Reliability, Safety & Hazard (ICRESH-201O)

V. CONCLUSIONS
Levels: Ir (H:70rnA; L: lOrnA) and T (H: lOOC,L: 30C)
Samples: For each run, n 5 sampels are selected.
= In this paper, the dominant failure mechanisms that are
Measurement Paremeter: CTR is calculated by measuring responsible for the degradation of performance of ICs are
currents on both input and output. Bigger is better (B-Type illustrated. A detailed study, operation and reliability modeling
Statistics). of an optocoupler 4N36 is carried out. LED ageing is responsible
for the degradation of CTR of optocoupler and it is due to
Using the above two level parameters, L4 Array is constructed as increase in the input current and temperature. Statiscal analysis
in Table I. using design of experiments is carried out for screening of stress
TABLE 1. IA ARRAy
parameters and also for selection of the stress parameter level for
increase in the CTR. The dominant failure mechanism that
Run No: A(Irl B(f) AXB affects the performance is found to be CTR degradation due to
1 1 1 1 LED input current.
2 1 2 2
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3 2 1 2

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Y =

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