EE-650: Reliability Physics of Nanoelectronic Transistors

Offered: Every other year in Fall
Fall 2006: MWF 9:30-10:20, Knoy B029

Course Objective

This course will focus on the physics of reliability of small semiconductor devices. In traditional courses on device physics, we learn how to compute current through a device when a voltage is applied. However, as transistors are turned on and off trillions of times during the years of the operation, gradually defects accumulate within the device so that at some point the transistor does not work anymore. The course will explore the physics and mathematics regarding how and when things break – a topic of great interest to semiconductor industry.

Course Announcements

Please check periodically for new information.

• 11/29/06: Please take a few moments to fill up the course evaluation report at Evaluation Form
• 11/29/06: I have posted an (interesting!) paper on "Why We Fall Apart" in the Additional Reading section. Can you relate the theory of pre-existing defects discussed in the class (Lecture 27 and 28) to the comments by the authors ?
• 11/24/06: Project Presentation: 4:30-6:00pm, Room 317. Each of you should send both the final report and the '4 slides, 10 minute' presentation by 3 pm on Dec. 6.
• 11/18/06: Review papers on Soft and Hard Breakdown and Multiple SBD have been posted.
• 11/08/06: A review of TDDB by A. Ghetti is posted in the additional reading section.
• 10/20/06: A set of additional reading material on TDDB has been posted.
• 10/18/06: There will be no class Monday and Wednesday next week (Oct. 23 and Oct. 27).
• 10/18/06: Make sure to check the note-taking schedule to avoid any confusion.
• 10/18/06: Lecture notes 12 and 13 have been posted.
• 10/10/06: MATLAB Code for NBTI Statistics is now available. I have also posted a few papers in the additional reading section in preparation for the lectures on measurement of interface traps.
• 10/04/06: List of final projects are available from the download section.
• This is a two-credit course for this semester. The classes begin on Sept. 11, 2006 and will continue for 10 weeks.