With the constant scaling of semiconductor devices, reliability of these devices is a huge concern. One of the biggest reliability issues is a phenomenon known as electromigration (EM) [1] [2]. Electromigration is the transport of material caused by the gradual movement of the ions in a conductor due to the momentum transfer between conducting electrons and diffusing metal atoms [27]. The damage induced by electromigration appears as the formation of voids and hillocks, resulting in electrical discontinuity.
Based on previous Electromigration research [15], I have created a tool chain that identifies where electromigration is likely to occur in large-scale integrated circuits. Using this tool chain, it is possible to identify the mean-time to failure (MTTF) of several common and high priority circuits such as complex adders and memories. Furthermore, this tool chain allows designers to isolate weak-points in these circuits to improve the overall MTTF of the circuit. The result is that with a few simple changes, circuits can be redesigned to increase the MTTF, at minimal cost to the system.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CALPOLY/oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1204 |
| Date | 01 November 2009 |
| Creators | Wilkinson, Gregory Ross |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@CalPoly |
| Source Sets | California Polytechnic State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Master's Theses |
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