Lifetime prediction for submicrometer LSI circuits and programmable logic: An overview

Abstract

An overview is given of the experience gained in lifetime prediction for submicrometer LSI circuits and programmable logic, as reported by leading manufacturers including Siemens AG, Analog Devices, Atmel, Xilinx, Altera, QuickLogic, and Actel. The main conclusions are as follows: (i) The Arrhenius equation remains a major tool for describing the temperature dependence of circuit lifetime. (ii) The lifetime of LSI circuits continues to display a bimodal pattern. (iii) Bias-temperature stressing constitutes a generally useful technique for identifying failure mechanisms. (iv) The chi-squared distribution should be employed in predicting useful-life failure rate. CIRCUIT ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS