Reliability of ICs

In micro- and nanoelectronics, the miniaturization of structures (“More Moore”) and the heterointegration (“More than Moore”) are leading to ever more tightly packaged electronic systems. On one hand, this increases the potential spectrum of applications for the semiconductors. On the other hand, however, it also increases the impact of physical effects such as aging, variations or electrothermal interactions. In addition, the desire for greater computing performance and more extensive functionality in ICs often stands in contradiction to non-functional requirements concerning their reliability and robustness.

This can pose a major challenge to safety-critical applications in particular. After all, a long service life must be guaranteed for semiconductor-based systems in areas such as automotive or industrial electronics and medical technology, making it necessary to take this into account already during the IC design. We therefore supply methods and solutions at various levels of abstraction to help our partners achieve their individual requirements with regard to the robustness and reliability of their designs.

Our Services

We support you in the reliability assessment of electronic components with the following services:

  • Characterization of degradation at the wafer level in the low-voltage and high-voltage area (NBTI/PBTI, HCI; TDDB, GOI)
  • Aging modeling for transistors
  • Modeling and simulation of multi-physical effects in the area of electrothermal interactions as well as electrostatic and electrodynamic effects
  • Compact modeling of components, such as ESD protective diodes
  • Design of stress monitors for electronic components

Robust electronics through multi-physical verification

 

We offer you various software tools for the verification of IC designs.

 

HeatVision

  • Thermal analysis of analog / mixed-signal ICs
  • Steady-state and dynamic temperature analysis of the entire chip
  • Extraction of thermal RC networks
 

SubVision

  • Rapid analysis of substrate noise and crosstalk
  • Visualization of the electrical potential and field distribution in the entire IC

Added Value for You

Our expertise in the consideration of multi-physical problems as well as our support for diverse design environments make us your ideal partner for the design of robust and reliable ICs and systems.

  • Analysis and optimization of the impact of non-functional effects in IC and system design
  • Improved understanding as well as optimal utilization of technological capabilities without overdesign
  • Precise prediction as well as safeguarding of the lifespan of transistors, circuits and electronic components under specific application conditions
  • Satisfying quality requirements

References and More Information

Reference project

ADMONT

Combining expertise, technological platforms and existing clean rooms, a unique design center for »More-than-Moore-Technologien« is developed in Dresden.

Reference project

RESIST

Vehicle systems of all kinds are implemented today with the help of highly integrated semiconductors. The work within »RESIST« aims to make optimal use of nanoelectronics as a key to further advances.

Reference project

MoRV

The MoRV project aimed to develop software that ensures already during the IC design phase that the ICs developed will have the desired operating properties.

White Paper

Circuit Level Aging Simulations

How to minimize design margins with accurate advanced transistor degredation models.