The COMET project Reliability Evaluation and Analysis of Circuits and Emerging Transistor Technologies (REACT) addresses the increasing global demand for reliable semiconductor technologies driven by applications in critical industries like electronics, AI, automotive, and medical applications. The project aims to address the growing complexity of transistors in both the front- and back end of line, as well as the variability and reliability of these transistors, which is becoming more serious to control with decreasing device dimensions. This goal is pursued by putting the research focus in REACT on the development of a Total Reliability and Unifying System for Testing (TRUST), a generic experimental and theoretical toolkit designed to understand, predict, and eventually enhance the reliability of both conventional silicon technologies and emerging transistor channel materials such as 2D materials as well as indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO). Such a toolkit is urgently needed since the reliability models currently used by industry are empirical and thus have little predictive power, which results in unnecessary safety margins on the supply voltages and, thus, wasted performance and increased energy consumption. In addition, these empirical models do not provide feedback on the mechanisms responsible for degradation, which limits process optimization options and thus results in less reliability.
\nWith the necessity to develop more reliable and efficient technologies that can be operated under new constraints, such as lower supply voltage, the semiconductor industry is at a pivotal moment. A paradigm shift in semiconductor chip design is required to ensure this trend, which makes 3D integration and low-temperature processing so important these days. Such emerging technologies, where devices have not yet reached the reliability levels of traditional silicon-based technologies, present new challenges and opportunities. The project is timely, given the rise of technologies like 3D integration, which require solutions to mitigate reliability issues.
\nTo achieve its objectives, REACT will implement the TRUST toolkit, which combines experimental measurement systems and physics-based models. The experimental pillar will utilize cutting-edge techniques like high-resolution measurements (spanning temperatures from 4K to 600K) to monitor the behavior of transistors over time and under stress. Arrays of thousands of transistors will be analyzed to capture data on variability and degradation. Theoretically, TRUST will integrate physics-based models into a simulation framework, allowing for predictive reliability assessments at both the device and circuit levels. The project leverages decades of expertise from TU Wien and critical partners, including Infineon, imec, CEA-Leti, and Global TCAD Solutions (GTS).
\nREACT aims to deliver several significant outcomes: With the TRUST toolkit, a comprehensive, modular toolkit for testing and predicting the reliability of both conventional and emerging semiconductor devices will be developed. The toolkit comprises improved physics-based models for predicting device variability and failure mechanisms. The industrial partners profit from new insights to enhance the reliability and performance of semiconductor circuits, allowing for reduced safety margins and improved energy efficiency in devices. Furthermore, the project will set the groundwork for reliable 3D integration, offering potential breakthroughs in device stacking and non-volatile memory technologies like DRAM. Finally, by facilitating a close partnership between academia and industry, REACT will foster Austrian and European leadership in semiconductor technology development and contribute to global standards and best practices. Overall, the REACT project is expected to drive innovations that will enhance the reliability and efficiency of semiconductor devices, contributing to sustainable and advanced technologies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The COMET project Reliability Evaluation and Analysis of Circuits and Emerging Transistor Technologies (REACT) addresses the increasing global demand for reliable semiconductor technologies driven by applications in critical industries like electronics, AI, automotive, and medical applications. The project aims to address the growing complexity of transistors in both the front- and back end of line, … Continue reading “Home”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":202,"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1666,"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/1666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iue.tuwien.ac.at\/react\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}