Comprehending scaling effects on plasma damage

Abstract

The dependence of the gate oxide current (during plasma processes) on the antenna ratio determines the significance of plasma damage for the product. This relationship is shown to be linear in the plasma-current limited regime and sub-linear in the plasma-voltage limited regime. The implication of this sub-linear dependence is that the fail fraction at high antenna ratio is not a reliable indicator of susceptibility to charging damage, and a complete model incorporating plasma and oxide current-voltage characteristics is necessary for accurate assessment of charging damage.