New Analysis Method for Time-Dependent Device-To-Device Variation Accounting for Within-Device Fluctuation

Abstract

Variability of nanometer-size devices is a major challenge for circuit design. Apart from the as-fabricated variability, the postfabrication degradation introduces a time-dependent variability, originating from statistical distribution of charge location and number. The existing characterization techniques do not always capture the maximum degradation. Some of them does not separate the device-to-device variation from the charging fluctuation within the same device, either. The objective of this paper is to develop a new analysis method for characterizing time-dependent device-to-device variation, accounting for within-device fluctuation (TVF). The TVF captures the maximum degradation, separate device-to-device variation from within-device fluctuation, and reduce the data points by three orders of magnitude. It is shown that the popular data acquisition at discrete time points does not capture the fluctuation well and drain current must be measured continuously. The TVF shows that degradation has two components-a fluctuation with time and one whose discharge is not observed under a given bias. Although both of them increase with stress time, the correlation between them is weak, indicating two different origins.