TY - GEN
T1 - Physical Failure Analysis of Dielectric Breakdown Induced Metal Migration in LDMOS
AU - Huang, Jialu
AU - Yan, Chao
AU - Zhou, Jingming
AU - Wang, Kai
AU - Wu, Xing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 IEEE.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - Dielectric breakdown-induced migration (DBIM) is a critical factor affecting the reliability of semiconductor devices. However, the microstructure changes mechanism in the device due to DBIM remains unclear. Therefore, this study employed multi-scale physical characterization techniques and multi-physics simulations techniques to investigate the breakdown failure of LDMOS devices under the transmission line pulse (TLP) test. The results indicate that gate dielectric breakdown causes severe damages, and metal migration was observed at different locations within the device. Physical analysis at the atomistic scale reveals that the process from the device experiencing electrical stress to complete burnout involves several stages: Co metal migration, dielectric breakdown-induced leakage current causing W metal migration, and the localized high temperatures leading to dielectric collisions and Al metal extrusion. Furthermore, multiphysics simulations provided further evidence for the aforementioned breakdown-related migration phenomena. The research provides substantial evidence of the dielectric breakdown-induced metal migration, essential for accurately predicting and enhancing the circuit reliability of LDMOS and other gate-based devices.
AB - Dielectric breakdown-induced migration (DBIM) is a critical factor affecting the reliability of semiconductor devices. However, the microstructure changes mechanism in the device due to DBIM remains unclear. Therefore, this study employed multi-scale physical characterization techniques and multi-physics simulations techniques to investigate the breakdown failure of LDMOS devices under the transmission line pulse (TLP) test. The results indicate that gate dielectric breakdown causes severe damages, and metal migration was observed at different locations within the device. Physical analysis at the atomistic scale reveals that the process from the device experiencing electrical stress to complete burnout involves several stages: Co metal migration, dielectric breakdown-induced leakage current causing W metal migration, and the localized high temperatures leading to dielectric collisions and Al metal extrusion. Furthermore, multiphysics simulations provided further evidence for the aforementioned breakdown-related migration phenomena. The research provides substantial evidence of the dielectric breakdown-induced metal migration, essential for accurately predicting and enhancing the circuit reliability of LDMOS and other gate-based devices.
KW - dielectric breakdown induced metal migration
KW - LDMOS
KW - OBIRCH
KW - TEM
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105030017313
U2 - 10.1109/IPFA65338.2025.11256589
DO - 10.1109/IPFA65338.2025.11256589
M3 - 会议稿件
AN - SCOPUS:105030017313
T3 - Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Physical and Failure Analysis of Integrated Circuits, IPFA
BT - 2025 IEEE 32nd International Symposium on the Physical and Failure Analysis of Integrated Circuits, IPFA 2025
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
T2 - 32nd IEEE International Symposium on the Physical and Failure Analysis of Integrated Circuits, IPFA 2025
Y2 - 5 August 2025 through 8 August 2025
ER -