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Industrial Perspective on Reliability of VLSI Devices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

P. B. Ghate
P. B. Ghate*
Affiliation:
Texas Instruments Incorporated, 8390 LBJ Freeway, P.O. Box 655303, MS 3685, Dallas, TX 75265
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Abstract

The reliability of silicon integrated circuits (ICs) has improved significantly in the last decade. The complexity of ICs continues to increase. The semiconductor industry is actively working to a) improve the reliability of very large scale (VLSI) ICs, and b) reduce the failure rates to a value closer to 0.1 FIT by the year 2000. This paper summarizes the current status of quality and reliability of ICs. Some of the reliability limiting factors are described. Inadequacy of conventional accelerated test methods to verify the reliability of VLSI devices is highlighted. A challenging VLSI reliability goal with a failure rate approaching 0.1 FIT requires a) an understanding of the root causes of failure mechanisms, b) a translation of the lessons learned into a set of design rules for the circuit designers, c) appropriate materials and process specifications consistent with manufacturing capabilities, and d) in-process reliability test structures and test procedures. A VLSI failure rate goal of 0.1 FIT presents an exciting challenge for the materials scientists.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 225: Symposium G – Materials Reliability Issues in Microelectronics , 1991 , 207
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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References

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