Noncontact Testing Of Integrated Circuits Using An Electron Beam Probe

E. Menzel; R. Buchanan

doi:10.1117/12.940973

2 February 1988 Noncontact Testing Of Integrated Circuits Using An Electron Beam Probe

E. Menzel, R. Buchanan

Proceedings Volume 0795, Characterization of Very High Speed Semiconductor Devices and Integrated Circuits; (1988) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.940973
Event: Advances in Semiconductors and Semiconductor Structures, 1987, Bay Point, FL, United States

Abstract

The complexity of integrated circuits (ICs) is steadily growing, and geometries are shrinking. This is as a result of the demand for higher speed, greater reliability, increased capability, and decreased cost. With growing complexity, the testing of an IC is rendered more difficult and increasingly determines IC cost. Classical test methods have been improved and new testing strategies are currently being developed, aiming at keeping development times of ICs at a justifiable level, and at assuring and improving the quality and reliability of ICs. One of the new test methods that has received a tremendous impetus in the past few years is electron beam testing. The attractive properties of an eletron beam lie in its capability of being used as a finely focused, easily alignable contactless probe, which under certain conditions can measure IC-internal signals in a nonloading and nondestructive way. Thus the e-beam represents the only alternative to the mechanical probe used so far for electrical signal measurements in medium-scale (MSI) and large-scale integrated circuits (LSI). This paper reviews the fundamental operating principles of E-beam Testing. Included is data obtained using a recently developed secondary electron analyzer located within the final probe-forming lens of a scanning electron microscope. These results show a substantial improvement in both spatial and energy resolution, as well as measurement accuracy.

Citation Download Citation

E. Menzel and R. Buchanan "Noncontact Testing Of Integrated Circuits Using An Electron Beam Probe", Proc. SPIE 0795, Characterization of Very High Speed Semiconductor Devices and Integrated Circuits, (2 February 1988); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.940973

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