ALIGNMENT TESTING FOR TIERED SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE
First Claim
1. A method for evaluating a tiered semiconductor structure, comprising:
- evaluating connectivity, through a conductive arc within a first layer of a tiered semiconductor structure, between a first via, a second via, and a third via of a second layer of the tiered semiconductor structure to determine an alignment rotation;
evaluating the tiered semiconductor structure for misalignment based upon the alignment rotation; and
invoking at least one of a testing unit, a repair unit, or a fault tolerance unit to process one or more tiers during stacked CMOS production processing of the tiered semiconductor structure.
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Abstract
Among other things, one or more techniques or systems for evaluating a tiered semiconductor structure, such as a stacked CMOS structure, for misalignment are provided. In an embodiment, a connectivity test is performed on vias between a first layer and a second layer to determine a via diameter and a via offset that are used to evaluate misalignment. In an embodiment, a connectivity test for vias within a first layer is performed to determine an alignment rotation based upon which vias are connected through a conductive arc within a second layer or which vias are connected to a conductive pattern out of a set of conductive patterns. In this way, the via diameter, the via offset, or the alignment rotation are used to evaluate the tiered semiconductor structure, such as during a stacked CMOS process, for misalignment.
2 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for evaluating a tiered semiconductor structure, comprising:
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evaluating connectivity, through a conductive arc within a first layer of a tiered semiconductor structure, between a first via, a second via, and a third via of a second layer of the tiered semiconductor structure to determine an alignment rotation; evaluating the tiered semiconductor structure for misalignment based upon the alignment rotation; and invoking at least one of a testing unit, a repair unit, or a fault tolerance unit to process one or more tiers during stacked CMOS production processing of the tiered semiconductor structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for evaluating a tiered semiconductor structure, comprising:
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evaluating connectivity within a first arc segment of a conductive arc, wherein the conductive arc is within a first layer of a tiered semiconductor structure and the connectivity is evaluated between a set of vias within a second layer of the tiered semiconductor structure; responsive to determining that a first via of the set of vias has connectivity through the first arc segment to a second via of the set of vias adjacent to the first via and that the first via does not have connectivity to a third via of the set of vias adjacent to the second via, determining a counterclockwise alignment rotation; evaluating the tiered semiconductor structure for misalignment based upon the counterclockwise alignment rotation; and invoking at least one of a testing unit, a repair unit, or a fault tolerance unit to process one or more tiers during stacked CMOS production processing of the tiered semiconductor structure. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for evaluating a tiered semiconductor structure, comprising:
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evaluating connectivity within a first arc segment of a conductive arc, wherein the conductive arc is within a first layer of a tiered semiconductor structure and the connectivity is evaluated between a set of vias within a second layer of the tiered semiconductor structure; responsive to determining that a third via of the set of vias has connectivity through the first arc segment to a second via of the set of vias adjacent to the third via and that a first via of the set of vias does not have connectivity to the third via, determining a clockwise alignment rotation value; evaluating the tiered semiconductor structure for misalignment based upon the clockwise alignment rotation value; and invoking at least one of a testing unit, a repair unit, or a fault tolerance unit to process one or more tiers during stacked CMOS production processing of the tiered semiconductor structure. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification