Voltage contrast measurements on sub-micrometer structures with an electric force microscope based test system

摘要

Electric force microscopy (EFM) testing is a promising tool for contact-less circuit internal funciton and failure analysis of integrated circuits (IC).Up to now several EFM-test techniques have been developed and their efficiency was mostly demonstrated on test structures with geometricla dimensions down to 1μm not presenting the state-of-the-art. This paper presents voltage contrast measurements at sub-micrometer interconnection lines successfully demonstrating the applicabiltiy of EFM-testing in next generation ICs. For the analysis of th eabilityof EFM-testing regarding voltge contrast measurements at sub-micrometer structures as a first step teh dependence of measurement sensitivity on th estructuree width and on the number of active conducting lines under the probe tip is investigated. The results will be discussed.