Reliability assessment of capacitor device

摘要

A method of reliability testing of a semiconductor device is described. The embodiment, includes providing a capacitor including an insulating layer interposing two conductive layers. A plurality of voltages are provided to the capacitor including providing a first voltage and a second voltage greater than the first voltage. A leakage associated with the capacitor is measured while applying the second voltage. In an embodiment, the leakage measured while applying the second voltage indicates that a failure of the insulating layer of the capacitor has occurred. In an embodiment, the capacitor is an inter-digitated metal-oxide-metal (MOM) capacitor. The reliability testing may be correlated to TDDB test results. The reliability testing may be performed at a wafer-level.

主权项

1. A method of reliability testing of a semiconductor device,
comprising: providing a production lot of semiconductor wafers including a first semiconductor wafer having a plurality of product-level devices and a structure providing a capacitor including an insulating layer interposing two conductive layers; performing a plurality of process control monitor (PCM) tests on the first semiconductor wafer, wherein the plurality of PCM tests includes:
ramping a voltage provided to the capacitor including providing a first voltage and a second voltage greater than the first voltage, wherein the providing the second voltage generates a defect in the capacitor; wherein the first voltage and the second voltage providing during the ramping the voltage are provided at an elevated temperature;recording the second voltage having a unit of volts in a computer readable medium; and correlating the recorded second voltage to a time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) lifetime for a packaged device thereby providing a determined TDDB lifetime for the plurality of product-level devices, wherein the correlating includes:
providing a graph of a plurality of breakdown voltages in a unit of volts (V) plotted with respect to an associated TDDB lifetime in a unit of time, wherein the plurality of breakdown voltages includes at least one voltage having the same volts as the second voltage; andusing the graph to calculate the determined TDDB lifetime for the packaged device based on the TDDB lifetime of the graph corresponding to the recorded second voltage; and using the second voltage to disposition the production lot of semiconductor wafers.