Deep Trapping Centers Relaxation in Transistors and Integrated Circuits

For ensuring the efficiency of the semiconductor electronic component base for apparatus, responsible for application, an optimal combination of statistical (group) and physical-technological (individual) reliability assessments is required. In the paper a thermodynamic approach, based on the deep-level transient spectroscopy in semiconductors promising means of individual rejection of potentially unreliable electronic component base has been proposed. For transistors and integrated circuits, the dependences of the amplitude of capacitance transient, caused by the bulk and surface defects of various nature on the repetition rate of electric filling pulses of deep levels, have been obtained. For multi-pin CMOS IC, the two-pole connection schemes to the spectrometer have been proposed. The obtained dependences show individual differences of studied specimens of various manufacturers as well as individual specimens from the same production batch. The performed studies have shown the promises of using the methods of the relaxation spectroscopy of deep level as the means of additional quality control of semiconductor devices and CMOS microcircuits both in the production process and in rejection of the items with potential defects, not specified by the project of engineering defect formation.

Identification of Near-Interface Trap Distribution by Parameter Estimation

To identify the near-interface trap (NIT) distribution of a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor, we propose a new evaluation method by parameter estimation through optimization. The MOS capacitor was fabricated with Al/SiO2 (75 nm)/SiC and measured by the capacitance transient (C-t) method. In addition, C-t signals were calculated from the assumed NIT distribution model. Then, the calculated C-t signals were modified to fit the measured signals by optimization of the parameters of the NIT model. The two types of NITs, deep (Ec – Et = 0.57 eV) and shallow (Ec – Et = -0.02 eV or-0.18 eV), were revealed by this method.