Yield and reliability are key factors in determining success in the microelectronics and nano production industry. This proposal addresses a built-in-reliability approach that controls and predicts both reliability and yield in complex nano products. The purpose of this work is to find effective ways to screen the early failures that are so numerous and costly that the nano products industry has treated yield as privileged information. The proposed modeling techniques will be validated by analyzing the physical and electrical properties of the newly fabricated sub 5 nm high k dielectric devices for reliability testing. The objective of this project is to make it possible to more fully utilize nano systems by capitalizing on as yet underdeveloped potential for high reliability and affordable cost. The end results of the work will pave the way for reliability enhancement in nano products, and will define a paradigm for controlling yield and reliability as well. At the end, a new protocol for testing and testing standards will be devised. The 3-year multidisciplinary project is led by a microelectronics reliability specialist and a nano device engineer from different academic disciplines. The project will build a theoretical foundation for modeling nano reliability in cases where incompatibility dominates system performance. The publications and intellectual inventions that emerge from this project are expected to impact the nano industry as well as influence the material that is being taught in institutions of higher learning.
