Functional failure analysis on analog device by optical beam induced current technique

Photoinduced current can be measured and used to modulate the gray-level of the OBIC images. Thus, the OBIC image can be used to localize the damaged transistor in LSI and VLSI devices. This is because when the pn junctions are destroyed, the leakage path no longer exhibits any blocking behavior, and thus no OBIC effect will be present. This paper presents two cases of failure analysis performed on analog devices using OBIC technique. The analysis steps and methodology used to determine the failure mechanism are described.