Ferroelectric capacitor test structure for chip die

• US 5,254,482 A
• Filed: 04/15/1992
• Issued: 10/19/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation (Texas Instruments, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: National Semiconductor Corporation (Texas Instruments, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fisch, David E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chaudhuri, Olik
• Assistant Examiner(s): TSAI, H JEY
• Application Number:
  US07/869,825
• Time in Patent Office: 552 Days
• Field of Search: 437/8, 365/144
• US Class Current: 438/3
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 22/34 Circuits for electrically characterising or monitoring manufacturing processes, e. g. whole test die, wafers filled with test structures, on-board-devices incorporated on each die, process control monitors or pad structures thereof, devices in scribe line switching, multiplexing, gating devices G01R19/25; process control with lithography, e.g. dose control, G03F7/20; structures for alignment control by optical means G03F7/70633
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48091 Arched
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00014 the subject-matter covered by the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group, being disclosed without further technical details

Abstract

A test structure integrated into substantially each circuit die formed on a wafer. The test structure includes a ferroelectric component connected to bond pads of the die so that analog tests can be conducted thereon, and the results of the tests utilized to extrapolate aging and fatigue characteristics of other ferroelectric components in the functional circuits of the die. The ferroelectric test structure can be connected directly to die bond pads, or switchably connected thereto by decoding circuits which share bond pads employed by the other functional circuits of the die.

Claims

1. In a semiconductor wafer of the type having a plurality of circuit die, and at least some of the die having a ferroelectric component, a method of incorporating a test structure in the semiconductor wafer, comprising the steps of:

fabricating at least one ferroelectric test structure into each said die having ferroelectric component so that the test structure undergoes substantially the same processing environment as does functional circuitry of the die;

fabricating said ferroelectric test structure as a two-terminal device in series with a transistor switch for switchably connecting the ferroelectric component between bond pads; and

connecting the ferroelectric test structure so that each terminal of the ferroelectric test structure is coupled to a different bond pad of the respective die for providing electrical access to the test structure by way of said bond pads and so that analog tests can be conducted thereon and analog signals resulting from said tests can be obtained from at least one of the bond pads.

2. The method of claim 1, further including connecting one said terminal of the ferroelectric component to a bond pad which carries a supply voltage to other functional circuitry of the die.

3. The method of claim 1, further including fabricating an array of non-volatile ferroelectric memory circuits in each said die, and bit lines common to plural memory cells of the array for providing a readout, and further including simulating a parasitic capacitance of the bit lines with a discrete capacitor for use in combination with the ferroelectric component to test electrical parameters of the ferroelectric test structure.

4. The method of claim 3, further including fabricating a circuit die with capacitors having the relationship:

##EQU2## where C_TS is the capacitance of a ferroelectric capacitor test structure,

C_STRAY is stray capacitance associated with the ferroelectric test structure,

C_CELL is the capacitance of a ferroelectric capacitor associated with one said cell, and

C_BL is a parasitic capacitance of the bit lines.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein C_TS and C_STRAY are electrically connected in series.

6. The method of claim 3, further including fabricating each said cell with a non-volatile storage capability of a ferroelectric capacitor.

7. The method of claim 1, further including fabricating the ferroelectric test structure using substantially the same process steps as other ferroelectric components of the die, and forming a capacitance of the test structure larger than that of similar ferroelectric components of the functional circuitry.

8. The method of claim 1, further including carrying out analog tests on the ferroelectric component to determine hysteresis characteristics of the ferroelectric test structure.

9. The method of claim 8, including fabricating a transistor for switchably connecting said ferroelectric test structure between said bond pads.

10. The method of claim 9, further including fabricating a decode circuit for decoding plural input signals for driving said transistor.

11. A method for fabricating a test structure into a circuit die, comprising the steps of:

fabricating in the die functional circuits embodying at least one ferroelectric component;

fabricating bond pads on said die, at least some pads of which are employed for accessing the functional circuitry of the die;

fabricating a test structure on the die including a ferroelectric component in series with a transistor, said ferroelectric component fabricated by substantially the same steps as utilized in fabricating the ferroelectric components of the functional circuitry; and

connecting the ferroelectric test structure so that electrical access thereto can be had to at least one terminal of the ferroelectric component via a bond pad such that analog tests can be conducted thereon and analog signals from the ferroelectric component can be obtained via the bond pad to which the ferroelectric component is connected.

12. The method of claim 11, further including connecting the ferroelectric component of the test structure between a bond pad dedicated to test and a bond pad adapted for carrying power to the functional circuits of the die.

13. The method of claim 12, further including connecting a parallel arrangement of a P-channel and an N-channel transistor pair in series with the ferroelectric component of the test structure for switchably connecting said component to the bond pads and for allowing substantially a full range of a supply voltage to be received from the ferroelectric component.

14. The method of claim 11, further including connecting the circuit die to a lead frame and encapsulating the circuit die and a portion of the lead frame, and allowing external access to the test structure via said lead frame.

15. A circuit die, comprising:

a ferroelectric memory having a plurality of memory cells, each cell having at least one ferroelectric capacitor formed on a semiconductor material of said die, said ferroelectric memory storing data and defining a functional circuit, and being connected to a supply voltage;

a plurality of bond pads connected to the functional circuit for providing electrical access thereto;

a test structure having a ferroelectric component formed on said die, said test structure ferroelectric component undergoes substantially the same processing steps as utilized in fabricating the functional circuit ferroelectric memory cells; and

said test structure being connected so that AC signals of amplitude equal to or less than said supply voltage can be applied to the bond pads and to the test structure, and said test structure is interconnected with respect to said ferroelectric memory so that analog tests can be conducted on said test structure without accessing the ferroelectric memory, and analog signals can be obtained from the test structures via ones of said bond pads.

16. The circuit die of claim 15, wherein said test structure includes a ferroelectric capacitor having a coercive voltage equal to or less than the supply voltage, and said ferroelectric capacitor is connected to the bond pads so that fatigue tests can be conducted thereon.

17. The circuit die of claim 15, wherein said ferroelectric component is connected directly to a pair of said bond pads.

18. The circuit die of claim 15, wherein said ferroelectric component is connected to a dedicated test bond pad and to a bond pad shared with the other functional circuit.

19. The circuit die of claim 15, wherein said ferroelectric component is switched to ones of said bond pads by a transistor.

20. The circuit die of claim 15, further including a plurality of substantially identical circuit die formed on a semiconductor wafer.

21. The circuit die of claim 15, further including a plurality of test structures, and access circuitry for independently accessing each test structure.

22. A test array formed on a semiconductor wafer, comprising:

an array of ferroelectric test structures, each test structure including a ferroelectric capacitor;

at least one bit line for coupling signals to said test structures;

an access transistor associated with each said test structure of independently connecting a respective ferroelectric capacitor to said bit line; and

an input structure to said bit line for carrying analog signals ranging in amplitude from about a supply voltage to about a ground reference voltage to said test structures for subjecting the test structures to different amplitudes of said analog signals.

23. The test array of claim 22, further including means for connecting said bit line as an output to off-wafer circuits.

24. The test array of claim 22, wherein said bit line is connected to a pass gate comprising a P-channel transistor and an N-channel transistor.

25. The test array of claim 22, further including a drive line for simultaneously driving each said test structure with a drive line signal.

26. The test array of claim 22, further including a capacitor other than parasitic capacitance and different from said ferroelectric capacitor connected to said bit line.

27. The test array of claim 23, wherein said bit line input and output are distinct from each other, where the bit line input is utilized only for applying external signals to the test structure, and the bit line output is utilized only for transferring signals resulting from tests on the test structure array therefrom.