Optimization of integrated circuit reliability
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for optimizing reliability of integrated circuits, the method comprising:
- a computer integrating a per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor into an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit is included in a plurality of integrated circuit chips included in a semiconductor wafer, such that each integrated circuit chip includes one or more per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor(s);
the computer utilizing the per-chip EOT circuit sensor to determine electrical characteristics of the integrated circuit;
the computer determining physical attributes of the integrated circuit as a function of the determined electrical characteristics; and
the computer accessing EOT sensor circuit data stored in a database and using the EOT sensor circuit data to calculate an oxide thickness value for subsequent reliability modeling of the integrated circuit.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor resides in an integrated circuit. The per-chip EOT circuit sensor determines electrical characteristics of the integrated circuit. The measured electrical characteristics include leakage current. The determined electrical characteristics are used to determine physical attributes of the integrated circuit. The physical attributes, including EOT, are used in a reliability model to predict per-chip failure rate.
12 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for optimizing reliability of integrated circuits, the method comprising:
-
a computer integrating a per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor into an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit is included in a plurality of integrated circuit chips included in a semiconductor wafer, such that each integrated circuit chip includes one or more per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor(s); the computer utilizing the per-chip EOT circuit sensor to determine electrical characteristics of the integrated circuit; the computer determining physical attributes of the integrated circuit as a function of the determined electrical characteristics; and the computer accessing EOT sensor circuit data stored in a database and using the EOT sensor circuit data to calculate an oxide thickness value for subsequent reliability modeling of the integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A computer program product for optimizing reliability of integrated circuits, the computer program product comprising:
-
one or more computer-readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media, the program instructions comprising; program instructions to utilize a per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor to determine electrical characteristics of an integrated circuit wherein the integrated circuit is included in a plurality of integrated circuit chips included in a semiconductor wafer, wherein each integrated circuit chip includes one or more per-chip EOT circuit sensor(s); program instructions to determine physical attributes of the integrated circuit as a function of the determined electrical characteristics; and program instructions access EOT sensor circuit data stored in a database and use the EOT sensor circuit data to calculate an oxide thickness value for subsequent reliability modeling of the integrated circuit. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A semiconductor wafer structure, the structure comprising:
-
a plurality of integrated circuit chips included in a semiconductor wafer, wherein each chip includes one or more per-chip equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) circuit sensor; wherein each EOT circuit sensor is configured to determine electrical characteristics of the integrated circuit and be connected in direct electrical connection to an external test apparatus which applies a voltage to the EOT circuit sensor; and wherein physical attributes of the integrated circuit are determined using the determined electrical characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification