Integrated circuit including sensor structure, related method and design structure

• US 8,822,993 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: GlobalFoundries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cooney, Edward C. III, Gambino, Jeffrey P., He, Zhong-Xiang, Lee, Tom C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Chuong A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hossain, Moazzam
• Application Number:
  US13/550,813
• Publication Number:
  US 20140021469A1
• Time in Patent Office: 777 Days
• Field of Search: 257/48, 257/415, 257/414, 257/E23.01, 257/E21.531, 257/E21.53, 257/E21.522, 257/E21.524, 438/14, 438/17, 438/614, 438/5, 438/6, 438/10, 438/11, 438/12, 438/18, 324/539, 324/754, 324/719, 324/718, 324/765
• US Class Current: 257/48
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2858 Measuring of material aspects, e.g. electro-migration [EM], hot carrier injection
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 22/30 Structural arrangements specially adapted for testing or measuring during manufacture or treatment, or specially adapted for reliability measurements
• 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 23/48 Arrangements for conducting electric current to or from the solid state body in operation, e.g. leads, terminal arrangements ; Selection of materials therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00

Abstract

An Integrated Circuit (IC) and a method of making the same. In one embodiment, an integrated circuit includes: a substrate; a first metal layer disposed on the substrate and including a sensor structure configured to indicate a crack in a portion of the integrated circuit; and a second metal layer disposed proximate the first metal layer, the second metal layer including a wire component disposed proximate the sensor structure.

Claims

1. An integrated circuit comprising:

a substrate;

a first metal layer disposed on the substrate and including a sensor structure configured to indicate a condition of a portion of the integrated circuit, wherein the sensor structure includes a set of via links configured to fracture in response to a crack in the integrated circuit, each of the via links connected to each other through at least one channel to form a chain of interconnected via links; and

a second metal layer disposed proximate the first metal layer, the second metal layer including a wire component disposed proximate the sensor structure, wherein some of the via links in the set of via links have ends disposed between the first metal layer and the second metal layer and other via links in the set of via links have ends in a location that are outside a vertical correspondence formed between a position of the first metal layer with respect to a position of the second metal layer.

2. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the sensor structure has a serpentine shape.

3. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the sensor structure includes a plurality of net wires communicatively connected and oriented to form a grid proximate the second metal layer.

4. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the wire component includes a plurality of metal layers.

5. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the first metal layer is formed in a kerf between a set of connecting pads on the integrated circuit.

6. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the wire component has a thickness greater than about 6 micrometers (μ

m).

7. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein the sensor structure is configured to conduct an electrical current from a first end of the sensor structure to a second end of the sensor structure, a characteristic of the conduction of the electrical current dependent upon a proximity of the sensor structure to a crack in the second wiring layer.

8. The integrated circuit of claim 1, wherein fracture of the set of via links varies a conductive characteristic of the sensor structure.

9. A design structure tangibly embodied in a machine readable medium for design, manufacturing, or testing an integrated circuit on a wafer, the design structure comprising:

a substrate;

a first metal layer disposed on the substrate and including a sensor structure configured to indicate a crack in a portion of the integrated circuit, wherein the sensor structure includes a set of via links configured to fracture in response to a crack in the integrated circuit, each of the via links connected to each other through at least one channel to form a chain of interconnected via links, wherein the fracture of the set of via links varies a conductive characteristic of the sensor structure; and

a second metal layer disposed proximate the first metal layer, the second metal layer including a wire component disposed proximate the sensor structure, wherein some of the via links in the set of via links have ends disposed between the first metal layer and the second metal layer and other via links in the set of via links have ends in a location that are outside a vertical correspondence formed between a position of the first metal layer with respect to a position of the second metal layer.

10. The design structure of claim 9, wherein the sensor structure includes a plurality of net wires communicatively connected and oriented to form a grid proximate the second metal layer.

11. The design structure of claim 9, wherein the sensor structure has a serpentine shape and the wire component has a thickness greater than about 6 micrometers (μ

m).

12. The design structure of claim 9, wherein the sensor structure is configured to conduct an electrical current from a first end of the sensor structure to a second end of the sensor structure, a characteristic of the conduction of the electrical current dependent upon a proximity of the sensor structure to a crack in the second wiring layer.

13. The design structure of claim 9, wherein the first metal layer is formed in at least one of:

a kerf between a set of integrated circuits on the wafer or a layer beneath the second metal layer of the integrated circuit.