Particle swarm optimization based NBTI modeling for finFET circuits

Abstract

Fin Field Effect Transistor (FinFET) technology has increasingly been adopted for use within integrated circuits thanks to its superior electrical integrity and scalability. However, a steady increase in vulnerability of FinFET circuits to negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) has recently become one of the major lifetime reliability problems. In this paper, we propose a simulation framework to address NBTI in combinational circuits implemented with 14-nm tri-gate FinFET predictive technology. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is applied to construct an accurate long-term NBTI degradation model from cycle-by-cycle data history. The proposed simulation methodology provides accurate results with high efficacy in computation time compared to reference models. From the proposed framework, the average delay degradation for all experimental circuits under normal operation after 10-year NBTI stress is approximately 6%, yet temperature variation in the circuit strongly influences NBTI degradation.