Search

Developments in IC fabrication, emerging high-reliability markets, and government regulations indicate potential for significant shifts in how reliability fits within IC development and product life-cycles. This survey takes a comprehensive look at trends in IC reliability and investigates the methods used to predict failures. A background overview of recent and expected advances in IC fabrication is provided, along with reliability requirements for different markets and review of key aging mechanisms affecting modern ICs. The survey of reliability trends captures the body of research examining degradation across process nodes, changes in transistor architecture, and changes to device materials. High-level analysis of conclusions reveals significant uncertainty with regards to many changes and a diverse range of topics warranting further research. A critical look at current reliability prediction methods used to characterize product reliability is followed by a survey of research developing novel prediction methods to enhance and improve on existing techniques. These topics come together to illustrate the state of IC reliability characterization and potential paths to overcome upcoming challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]