| US 7,567,891 B1 | ||
| Hot-carrier device degradation modeling and extraction methodologies | ||
| Zhihong Liu, Cupertino, Calif. (US); Lifeng Wu, Fremont, Calif. (US); Jeong Y. Choi, Palo Alto, Calif. (US); Ping Chen, San Jose, Calif. (US); Alvin I. Chen, San Jose, Calif. (US); and Gang Zhang, Campbell, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Cadence Design Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Sep. 27, 2001, as Appl. No. 9/969,185. | ||
| Application 09/969185 is a continuation in part of application No. 09/832933, filed on Apr. 11, 2001, granted, now 7,292,968. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/236865, filed on Sep. 29, 2000. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/236587, filed on Sep. 29, 2000. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/236586, filed on Sep. 29, 2000. | ||
| Int. Cl. G06F 7/60 (2006.01); G06F 17/50 (2006.01); G06F 9/45 (2006.01); G01R 15/00 (2006.01); G01R 27/28 (2006.01); G01R 27/26 (2006.01); H03K 19/20 (2006.01); H03K 19/094 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 703—13 [703/2; 703/14; 716/4; 716/5; 324/678; 326/117; 326/120; 326/124; 702/57; 702/117] | 15 Claims |
| 1. A method of simulating degradation of a circuit, said method comprising:
causing transmission of a program of instructions executable by a computer to a user's computer, thereby enabling the user's
computer to perform, by means of such program, the process of:
stressing a device for a time period;
measuring values for a plurality of device parameters of the stressed device during the time period;
selecting one of the device parameters;
extracting a relation between stress time and a degradation of the selected parameter from the measured values for the selected
parameter during the time period;
extracting a degradation rate for the device from the relation between stress time and the degradation of the selected parameter;
deriving from the degradation rate a device degradation model for a device parameter other than the selected device parameter;
and
prior to extracting a relation between stress time and the degradation of the selected parameter, selecting a functional form
for the relation, wherein said functional form is that a logarithm of the degradation is proportional to the stress time to
a power; and
executing the program of instructions on the user's computer, thereby to simulate the degradation of the circuit.
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