Plenaries >> Fernando Guarín
Fernando Guarín

Title:
"Microelectronic Reliability Topics for Advanced CMOS and SiGe Technologies."

Abstract:
Throughout this talk will explore the trends in miniaturization and the limitations of classical scaling as we continue beyond the 45 nm node. The power crisis and the mitigation offered by High-K materials will be analyzed from the reliability perspective along with the advantages and challenges of Strain Engineering. We will also examine the role of degradation mechanisms such as Hot Carriers and Negative Bias Temperature Instabilities NBTI and the new reliability constraints on the design and stability of Static RAMs. As the state of the art advances it is becoming apparent that we are fast approaching the regime where scaling alone can no longer deliver the improvements expected by the market. Continuous improvement will only be achieved by a combined strategy of technology integration tightly coupled with system level requirements. We will look at the performance and advantages obtained by the use of Embedded DRAM and examine the improvement in functionality and the advantages of the use of higher density of memory in close proximity to the processor. The improvements obtained by the use of new techniques for power supply decoupling will be presented and the reliability advantages of this approach will be discussed. We will conclude by presenting some of the innovative concepts of using reliability degradation mechanisms to implement technology solutions as in the case of e-Fuse. The advantages of the e-Fuse approach against Laser fuses will also be discussed. The new trends for the evolution of advanced CMOS technologies will require continued innovation coupled with a clear understanding of the reliability degradation mechanisms along with the interactions and limitations posed by scaling, power dissipation, and statistical process variations.