A temperature-aware time-dependent dielectric breakdown analysis framework

The shrinking of interconnect width and thickness, due to technology scaling, along with the integration of low-k dielectrics, reveal novel reliability wear-out mechanisms, progressively affecting the performance of complex systems. These phenomena progressively deteriorate the electrical characteristics and therefore the delay of interconnects, leading to violations in timing-critical paths. This work estimates the timing impact of Time-Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB) between wires of the same layer, considering temperature variations. The proposed framework is evaluated on a Leon3 MP-SoC design, implemented at a 45nm CMOS technology. The results evaluate the system's performance drift due to TDDB, considering different physical implementation scenarios.