On-chip device and circuit diagnostics on advanced technology nodes by nanoprobing

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly challenging for conventional failure analysis methods to identify the failure mechanism at circuit level in an integrated chip. This paper demonstrates the utilization of nanoprobing for on-chip device and circuit debugging for defect localization at circuit level. FIB circuit edit was first performed to isolate the intended circuit. Next nanoprobing was performed on higher metal layer to identify the cause of failure. Nanoprobing was then performed at the contact level to verify the source of failure.