Technique for evaluating a fabrication of a die and wafer
First Claim
1. A system for evaluating a fabrication of a wafer that includes one or more die, the system comprising:
- a plurality of test structures disposed on at least some of the one or more die, wherein the plurality of test structures are identifiable as belonging to one or more classes in a plurality of classes, and wherein each class of test structures includes;
a combination of device and interconnect elements that are provided on the die prior to the fabrication being completed, wherein the combination can be activated to cause an electrical activity that is detectable without affecting a usability of a chip formed from the die after fabrication is completed;
wherein each combination is configured so that (i) the electrical activity of that combination identifies a value that indicates an attribute or result of one or more steps in the fabrication, and (ii) the electrical activity of that combination is not or is less indicative of an attribute or result of at least another step in the fabrication;
wherein the value of each fabrication step in the class of test structures can be used, either individually or in combination with the value of one or more fabrication steps from another class of test structures, to determine information on a result of a particular fabrication step.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The fabrication of the wafer may be analyzed starting from when the wafer is in a partially fabricated state. The value of a specified performance parameter may be determined at a plurality of locations on an active area of a die of the wafer. The specified performance parameter is known to be indicative of a particular fabrication process in the fabrication. Evaluation information may then be obtained based on a variance of the value of the performance parameter at the plurality of locations. This may be done without affecting a usability of a chip that is created from the die. The evaluation information may be used to evaluate how one or more processes that include the particular fabrication process that was indicated by the performance parameter value was performed.
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Citations
59 Claims
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1. A system for evaluating a fabrication of a wafer that includes one or more die, the system comprising:
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a plurality of test structures disposed on at least some of the one or more die, wherein the plurality of test structures are identifiable as belonging to one or more classes in a plurality of classes, and wherein each class of test structures includes; a combination of device and interconnect elements that are provided on the die prior to the fabrication being completed, wherein the combination can be activated to cause an electrical activity that is detectable without affecting a usability of a chip formed from the die after fabrication is completed; wherein each combination is configured so that (i) the electrical activity of that combination identifies a value that indicates an attribute or result of one or more steps in the fabrication, and (ii) the electrical activity of that combination is not or is less indicative of an attribute or result of at least another step in the fabrication; wherein the value of each fabrication step in the class of test structures can be used, either individually or in combination with the value of one or more fabrication steps from another class of test structures, to determine information on a result of a particular fabrication step. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 51)
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32. A system for evaluating a fabrication of a wafer, the system comprising:
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a combination of device and interconnect elements that are identifiable on an active region of a die on the wafer prior to the fabrication of the wafer being completed, wherein the combination can be activated to cause electrical activity that is detectable without affecting a usability of the die or wafer and wherein the combination of device and interconnect elements is configured so that the electrical activity (i) emphasizes a given fabrication step in the fabrication sequence over another step in the fabrication sequence, and (ii) indicates a value or variation of an attribute or result of the given fabrication step on at least a segment of the die; and a data acquisition and analysis resource to evaluate the fabrication of the wafer using, at least in part, the value or the variation of the attribute or the result of the given fabrication step. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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Specification