Global fault localization using induced voltage alteration

Advances in integrated circuit technology have made failure site localizati on extremely challenging. Charge-induced voltage alteration (CIVA), low ene rgy CIVA (LECIVA), light-induced voltage alteration (LIVA), Seebeck effect imaging (SEI) and thermally-induced voltage alteration (TIVA) are five rece ntly developed failure analysis techniques which meet the challenge by rapi dly and non-destructively localizing interconnection defects on ICs. The te chniques take advantage of voltage fluctuations in a constant current power supply as an electron or photon beam is scanned across an IC. CIVA and LEC IVA are scanning electron microscopy techniques that yield rapid localizati on of open interconnections. LIVA is a scanning optical microscopy (SOM) me thod that yields quick identification of damaged semiconductor junctions an d determines transistor logic states. SEI and TIVA are SOM techniques that rapidly localize open interconnections and shorts respectively. LIVA, SEI, and TIVA can be performed from the backside of ICs by using the proper phot on wavelength. This paper describes the CIVA, LECIVA, LIVA, TIVA, and SEI t echniques in terms of the physics of signal generation, general data acquis ition system required, and imaging results displaying the utility of each t echnique for localizing interconnection defects. (C) 2001 Published by Else vier Science Ltd.