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The effects of stacking faults on the electrical properties of a high voltage power transistor
Microelectronicsand Reliability, Vol. 16, pp. 13 to 28. PergamonPress,1977.Printedin Great Britain
WORLD
ABSTRACTS ON MICROELECTRONICS RELIABILITY
AND
The abstracts below are given in reasonable detail where necessary so that an appreciation can be made of the coverage of the article. They are probably the most comprehensive detailed abstracts published in these two fields and in general are all of articles published within the last 12 months. They are classified into the following sections. Subjects 1. Reliability--General. 2. Reliability of Components, Tubes, Transistors and ICs. 3. Circuit and Systems Reliability, Maintenance and Redundancy. 4. Microelectronics--General. 5. Microelectronic,~s Design and Construction. 6. Microelectronics--Components, Systems and Equipments. 7. Semiconductor Integrated Circuits, Devices and Materials. 8. Thick- and Thin-Film Components, Hybrid Circuits and Materials. 9. Electron, Ion and Laser Beams.
1. RELIABILITY--GENERAL A good QA can help yon survive. ROBIN GARSIDE.Electronic Equipment News. (October 1976). pp. 16-17. When times are hard, pressures are brought to bear to reduce product quality, and the only way to survive, indeed to cut costs, is to resist this pressure. Inflation particularly makes the work of the Quality Assurance man harder and more challenging. All those involved in UK manufacturing industries must be aware of this, and start now to put Britain back on the map by ensuring a much wider involvement and concern for quality.
Bibliography for reliability and availability of stochastic systems. SIIUNJI OSAKI and TOSHIO NAKAGAWA.IEEE Trans. Reliab. R-25 (4), 284 (October 1976). A brief review of stochastic models on system-reliability lists selected references on system reliability models using stochastistic processes such as Markov chains, Markov processes, renewal processes, and semi-Markov (Markov renewal) processes.
2. RELIABILITY OF COMPONENTS, TUBES, TRANSISTORS AND ICs Avalanche breakdown in compelmentary diodes. LOWELL H. HOLWAV. Int. J. Electron. 14 (4), 411 (1976). A criterion for determining the relative breakdown conditions for a semiconductor junction and its complement is given which appears simpler to interpret than the inequalities due to Urgell. The Green's functions for electron and hole currents are given in a formulation which distinguishes explicitly between complementary diodes.
11. The development of charge on the dielectric surface of junction isolated monolithic SICs Can result in significant reductions in operating life, The transient and steady state characteristics of IC failure caused by the development of charge on the dielectric surface have been studied under room ambient conditions by monitoring the current through the inversion layer formed between circuit components of like conductivity type. The results of this study indicate that this IC failure mechanism is sensitive to IC layout geometry and suggest that conservative junction isolated monolithic SIC designs should have an inversion threshold voltage greater than the operating voltage.
Some studies on the instability in MOS devices due to water vapour contamination. B. R. SIN(m, B. D. RVAGI and B. R. MARA'rlIt~.Int. J. Electron. 41 (3), 273 (1976). The capacilance-voltage technique has been employed to study the instability phenomenon in silicon dioxide films, intentionally contaminated with water vapour. The temperature, voltage and time dependence on initial drift and recovery waveform are reported. Variation of contamination level and study of ion migration kinetics have been used to propose a new qualitative model to explain the result. Non-bridging oxygen situated at the metal-oxide interface acts an attractive site for positive ions. When the system is exposed to water, a complex is formed, which dissociates the positively charged ions, causing the observed instability. The above phenomenon is observed only when a catalytic impurity is present on the oxide surface.
The mechanisms of degradation in an optically coupled isolator. EDWARDF. THOMAS.Proc. IEEE Reliab. Phys. (1976), I. Degradation was observed in optically coupled isolators that were operated under both photodiodc and phototransistor biasing configurations. The device "'on" state current decreased during operation due to degradation of the light emitting diode radiant power output. This decrease in radiant power output was associated with an increase in the nonradiativc, space charge recombination current component of the light emitting diode forward current. In addition, large and rapid increases were observed in the optically coupled isolator "off" state currents. This degradation was due to formation of a surface inversion channel in the base region of the photosensitive transistor,
A study of surface charge induced inversion failure of junction isolated monolithic silicon integrated circuits. H. C. Po'rrER and D. R. REBUR.Proc. IEEE Reliab. Phys. (1976), 13
WORLD
ABSTRACTS ON MICROELECTRONICS RELIABILITY
AND
The abstracts below are given in reasonable detail where necessary so that an appreciation can be made of the coverage of the article. They are probably the most comprehensive detailed abstracts published in these two fields and in general are all of articles published within the last 12 months. They are classified into the following sections. Subjects 1. Reliability--General. 2. Reliability of Components, Tubes, Transistors and ICs. 3. Circuit and Systems Reliability, Maintenance and Redundancy. 4. Microelectronics--General. 5. Microelectronic,~s Design and Construction. 6. Microelectronics--Components, Systems and Equipments. 7. Semiconductor Integrated Circuits, Devices and Materials. 8. Thick- and Thin-Film Components, Hybrid Circuits and Materials. 9. Electron, Ion and Laser Beams.
1. RELIABILITY--GENERAL A good QA can help yon survive. ROBIN GARSIDE.Electronic Equipment News. (October 1976). pp. 16-17. When times are hard, pressures are brought to bear to reduce product quality, and the only way to survive, indeed to cut costs, is to resist this pressure. Inflation particularly makes the work of the Quality Assurance man harder and more challenging. All those involved in UK manufacturing industries must be aware of this, and start now to put Britain back on the map by ensuring a much wider involvement and concern for quality.
Bibliography for reliability and availability of stochastic systems. SIIUNJI OSAKI and TOSHIO NAKAGAWA.IEEE Trans. Reliab. R-25 (4), 284 (October 1976). A brief review of stochastic models on system-reliability lists selected references on system reliability models using stochastistic processes such as Markov chains, Markov processes, renewal processes, and semi-Markov (Markov renewal) processes.
2. RELIABILITY OF COMPONENTS, TUBES, TRANSISTORS AND ICs Avalanche breakdown in compelmentary diodes. LOWELL H. HOLWAV. Int. J. Electron. 14 (4), 411 (1976). A criterion for determining the relative breakdown conditions for a semiconductor junction and its complement is given which appears simpler to interpret than the inequalities due to Urgell. The Green's functions for electron and hole currents are given in a formulation which distinguishes explicitly between complementary diodes.
11. The development of charge on the dielectric surface of junction isolated monolithic SICs Can result in significant reductions in operating life, The transient and steady state characteristics of IC failure caused by the development of charge on the dielectric surface have been studied under room ambient conditions by monitoring the current through the inversion layer formed between circuit components of like conductivity type. The results of this study indicate that this IC failure mechanism is sensitive to IC layout geometry and suggest that conservative junction isolated monolithic SIC designs should have an inversion threshold voltage greater than the operating voltage.
Some studies on the instability in MOS devices due to water vapour contamination. B. R. SIN(m, B. D. RVAGI and B. R. MARA'rlIt~.Int. J. Electron. 41 (3), 273 (1976). The capacilance-voltage technique has been employed to study the instability phenomenon in silicon dioxide films, intentionally contaminated with water vapour. The temperature, voltage and time dependence on initial drift and recovery waveform are reported. Variation of contamination level and study of ion migration kinetics have been used to propose a new qualitative model to explain the result. Non-bridging oxygen situated at the metal-oxide interface acts an attractive site for positive ions. When the system is exposed to water, a complex is formed, which dissociates the positively charged ions, causing the observed instability. The above phenomenon is observed only when a catalytic impurity is present on the oxide surface.
The mechanisms of degradation in an optically coupled isolator. EDWARDF. THOMAS.Proc. IEEE Reliab. Phys. (1976), I. Degradation was observed in optically coupled isolators that were operated under both photodiodc and phototransistor biasing configurations. The device "'on" state current decreased during operation due to degradation of the light emitting diode radiant power output. This decrease in radiant power output was associated with an increase in the nonradiativc, space charge recombination current component of the light emitting diode forward current. In addition, large and rapid increases were observed in the optically coupled isolator "off" state currents. This degradation was due to formation of a surface inversion channel in the base region of the photosensitive transistor,
A study of surface charge induced inversion failure of junction isolated monolithic silicon integrated circuits. H. C. Po'rrER and D. R. REBUR.Proc. IEEE Reliab. Phys. (1976), 13