Abstract-In this paper, the mechanism of plasma-charging damage (PCD) of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors as well as possible protection schemes are discussed. A range of test structures with different antennas simulating interconnect layout variations have been used to investigate the mechanism of PCD of MIM capacitors. Based on the experimental results, two models are presented, describing the relation between the damage and the ratio of the area of the exposed antennas connected to the MIM capacitors plates. New design rules are proposed in order to predict and automatically flag possible PCD sites. Furthermore, layout solutions to reduce PCD are suggested.
Index Terms-Antenna ratio (AR), metal-insulator-metal (MIM), plasma-charging damage (PCD).
Electron Shading (ESj-effects were studied as a function of reactor-and transistor-type. It was found that the classical ES-effect, which occurs during the latent antenna regime, dominates for the current high-density plasma-reactors, independent of the used transistor-type.However, for less dense plasma-reactors the socalled extended ES-effect, which occurs during the overetch regime, can ovemle the classicai ES-effect depending on the transistor-type.
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