Research Of Precision Localization Technology In IC Failure Analysis

Integrated circuit(IC)failure analysis(FA)is an effective way to find the root cause and then improve the product yield and reliability by analyzing the fail sample and failure mechanism.The FA is very important in IC product`s design,production,testing and application area.With the rapid development of IC industry,the FA techniques have become indispensable to advanced research and analysis in any IC foundry.Nowadays,the chips have the features of more diverse functions,much smaller technology node in manufacturing process and ultra large scale integration,all of these demand higher requirements for the FA capability.And the precise localization about the abnormity becomes the key point within the whole fail analysis procedure.This thesis summarized the FA development history and technology trend firstly,and then some advanced FA techniques,especially the localization methods for positioning the defects in IC chip were analyzed in detail.Such as Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM)and Focused Ion Beam(FIB),Photo Emission Microscopy(PEM)and Optical Beam Induced Resistance Change(OBIRCH),etc.As the key task,some repeated structures of contact test structure,Gate Oxide Integrity(GOI)and long distance metal structure combined with the actual application were studied in detail and emphasized in the thesis.And based on the traditional localization method,Focus Ion Beam for circuit repair,high voltage scanning inspection and active Voltage Contrast(VC)were adopted during the failure analysis.Now,the results obtained from the above analysis have been used practically in the products,and the failure analysis hit rate was improved significantly.This is very helpful for the product yield improvement,and can contribute more benefits to company finance.