Electron beam testing

Abstract

Electron-beam testing (EBT) is currently used at two stages in the development and manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs), namely for chip verification and failure analysis. These are explained with the aid of two examples. EBT is, however, only one of many diagnostic tools. In order to classify it more usefully, a scenario is described that takes account of trends in chip development and packaging, and the linking of EBT with CAD (computer-aided design) and CAT (computer-aided testing). The conclusion is reached that EBT will remain an indispensable diagnostic tool. In future, it will probably be used under increasingly more' difficult conditions, however, due primarily to the greater complexity of specimen preparation and test stimuli generation.

Local Electrical Behavior, Crystallography, and Chemistry of Grain Boundaries in Mn‐Zn Ferrites

“…We used the voltage contrast technique, which consists of analyzing the secondary-electron signal that is emitted by the sample in an SEM microscope. 18,19 The energy spectrum of the secondary-electron beam shifted linearly as the electrical potential of the sample increased. Thus, by measuring the secondary-electron energy, it was possible to determine the electrical potential of different regions of the sample.…”

Model-based reasoning for electron-beam debugging of VLSI circuits

“…Contactless probing seems to be a solution to these problems, essentially for debugging and failure analysis, thanks to the voltage contrast phenomenon [1,2,3,4], which allows one to obtain grey level images of the device under test, in such a way that low potential (logic "0") wires appear in white, while high potential (logic 'T') wires appear in black. Hence, this electronic microprobe allows one to analyze internal connections without any mechanical damage and without electrical disturbing, at least less than with mechanical microprobes.…”