A novel on-die GHz AC stress test methodology for high speed IO application

A new methodology and test circuit for evaluation of device reliability are presented. The stress conditions must emulate the real circuit operation, or similar to product-like environment. Existing methodology might not archive this purpose. In this paper, an on-die wave front generator was established in circuit level. Experiments in this study cover from mechanisms of off state, Bias Temperature Instability (BTI) and Hot Carrier Injection (HCI). Based on the extensive results, strong dependence of reliability to layout effect can be concluded. And the reliability guidelines and recommendations for high speed IO circuit design can be made.