Applications de la cartographie en émission de lumière dynamique (Time Resolved Imaging) pour l'analyse de défaillance des composants VLSI

Les technologies VLSI ( Very large Scale Integration ) font partie de notre quotidien et nos besoins en miniaturisation sont croissants. La densification des transistors occasionne non seulement des difficultés à localiser les défauts dits hard apparaissant durant les phases de développement (débug) ou de vieillissement, mais aussi l apparition de comportements non fonctionnels purs du composant liées à des défauts de conception. Les techniques abordées dans ce document sont destinées à sonder les circuits microélectroniques à l aide d un outil appelé émission de lumière dynamique (Time Resolved Imaging - TRI) à la recherche de comportements anormaux au niveau des timings et des patterns en jeu dans les structures. Afin d aller plus loin, cet instrument permet également la visualisation thermographique en temps résolue de phénomènes thermiques transitoires au sein d un composant.VLSI ("Very Large Scale Integration") technologies are part of our daily lives and our miniaturization needs are increasing. The densification of transistors not only means trouble locating the so-called "hard defects" occurring during the development phases (debug) or aging, but also the appearance of pure non-functional behaviors related to component design flaws. Techniques discussed in this document are intended to probe the microelectronic circuits using a tool called dynamic light emission (Time Resolved Imaging - TRI) in search of abnormal behavior in terms of timings and patterns involved in structures. To go further, this instrument also allows viewing thermographic time resolved thermal transients within a component.BORDEAUX1-Bib.electronique (335229901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Dynamic light emission cartography (Time Resolved Imaging) applied to failure analysis of VLSI components

Les technologies VLSI (« Very large Scale Integration ») font partie de notre quotidien et nos besoins en miniaturisation sont croissants. La densification des transistors occasionne non seulement des difficultés à localiser les défauts dits « hard » apparaissant durant les phases de développement (débug) ou de vieillissement, mais aussi l’apparition de comportements non fonctionnels purs du composant liées à des défauts de conception. Les techniques abordées dans ce document sont destinées à sonder les circuits microélectroniques à l’aide d’un outil appelé émission de lumière dynamique (Time Resolved Imaging - TRI) à la recherche de comportements anormaux au niveau des timings et des patterns en jeu dans les structures. Afin d’aller plus loin, cet instrument permet également la visualisation thermographique en temps résolue de phénomènes thermiques transitoires au sein d’un composant.VLSI ("Very Large Scale Integration") technologies are part of our daily lives and our miniaturization needs are increasing. The densification of transistors not only means trouble locating the so-called "hard defects" occurring during the development phases (debug) or aging, but also the appearance of pure non-functional behaviors related to component design flaws. Techniques discussed in this document are intended to probe the microelectronic circuits using a tool called dynamic light emission (Time Resolved Imaging - TRI) in search of abnormal behavior in terms of timings and patterns involved in structures. To go further, this instrument also allows viewing thermographic time resolved thermal transients within a component

Dynamic light emission cartography (Time Resolved Imaging) applied to failure analysis of VLSI components

Les technologies VLSI (« Very large Scale Integration ») font partie de notre quotidien et nos besoins en miniaturisation sont croissants. La densification des transistors occasionne non seulement des difficultés à localiser les défauts dits « hard » apparaissant durant les phases de développement (débug) ou de vieillissement, mais aussi l’apparition de comportements non fonctionnels purs du composant liées à des défauts de conception. Les techniques abordées dans ce document sont destinées à sonder les circuits microélectroniques à l’aide d’un outil appelé émission de lumière dynamique (Time Resolved Imaging - TRI) à la recherche de comportements anormaux au niveau des timings et des patterns en jeu dans les structures. Afin d’aller plus loin, cet instrument permet également la visualisation thermographique en temps résolue de phénomènes thermiques transitoires au sein d’un composant.VLSI ("Very Large Scale Integration") technologies are part of our daily lives and our miniaturization needs are increasing. The densification of transistors not only means trouble locating the so-called "hard defects" occurring during the development phases (debug) or aging, but also the appearance of pure non-functional behaviors related to component design flaws. Techniques discussed in this document are intended to probe the microelectronic circuits using a tool called dynamic light emission (Time Resolved Imaging - TRI) in search of abnormal behavior in terms of timings and patterns involved in structures. To go further, this instrument also allows viewing thermographic time resolved thermal transients within a component

Optical Probing (EOFM/TRI): A large set of complementary applications for ultimate VLSI

International audienceElectro Optical Techniques (EOFM: Electro Optical Frequency Mapping and EOP: Electro Optical Probing) and Dynamic Light Emission Techniques (TRE: Time Resolved Emission and TRI: Time Resolved Imaging) are dynamic optical probing techniques widely used at IC level for design debug and defect localization purpose. They can pinpoint the origin of timing issue or logic fault in up to date CMOS devices. Each technique has its advantages and its drawbacks allowing a common set of applications and more specific ones. We have been involved in the development of the most advanced techniques related to EOFM and TRI on various devices (down to 28nm technology). What we can expect with each technique, which one to choose, what are the limitations are questions that must be answered regarding tooling cost and skills involved. Based on the understanding of the bases of each technique, their complementarities and their limitations have been identified. Even if these techniques can solve most of the issues we encountered, we can wonder if they can be applied on future technologies and this aspect will also be discussed

Single Event Transient acquisition and mapping for space device Characterization

It is necessary for space applications to evaluate the sensitivity of electronic devices to radiations. It was demonstrated that radiations can cause different types of effects to the devices and possibly damage them [1] [2]. The interest in the effect of Single Event Transient (SET) has recently risen because of the increased ability of parasitic signals to propagate through advanced circuit with gate lengths shorter than 0.65 nm and to reach memory elements (in this case they become Single Event Upset (SEUs)). Analog devices are especially susceptible to perturbations by such events which can induce severe consequences, from simple artifacts up to the permanent fail of the device. This kinds of phenomena are very difficult to detect and to acquire, because they are not periodical. Furthermore, they can vary a lot depending on different parameters such as device technology and biasing. The main obstacle for the analysis is due to the maximum frequency of these signals, which is unknown. It is consequently difficult to set a correct sample frequency for the acquisition system. In this document a methodology to evaluate SETs in analog devices is presented. This method allows to acquire automatically these events and to easily study the sensitivity of the device by analyzing a “SETs cartography”. The advantages are different: it allows to easily acquire and analyze the SETs in an automatic way; the obtained results allow the user to accurately characterize the device under test; and, finally, the costs due to the implementation of the tests are lower than a classical analysis performed by a particle accelerator

New statistical post processing approach for precise fault and defect localization in TRI database acquired on complex VLSI

International audienceTiming issue, missing or extra state transitions or unusual consumption can be detected and localized by Time Resolved Imaging (TRI) database analysis. Although, long test pattern can challenge this process. The number of photons to process rapidly increases and the acquisition time to have a good signal over noise ratio (SNR) can be prohibitive. As a result, the tracking of the defect emission signature inside a huge database can be quite complicated. In this paper, a method based on data mining techniques is suggested to help the TRI end user to have a good idea about where to start a deeper analysis of the integrated circuit, even with such complex databases

Methodology of backside preparation applied on a MRAM to lead a logical investigation with a near-field probe

This paper presents a method for the preparation of a magnetic random access memory (MRAM) whose data are stored in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) as resistance states, in order to read them by near-field probing.The goal is to be able to visualize a difference of resistance between bits at ‘0’ and at ‘1’ thanks to the current passing through several MTJs. To do so, the MRAM needs to be prepared to create an electrical access to both sides of the MTJs. The main issue is the polishing of both sides as the stack of metallization being less than 10 μm thick. A chemical etch would in that case be encouraged by literature but we take a different approach since we choose to open further than the transistors. The preferred method is a backside preparation technique that creates a bevel allowing us to access the bottom side of the MTJs through vias and the top of them thanks to the bitlines. Since the resulting chip no longer has electrical connections, we also create a dedicated electrical path thanks to a focused ion beam (FIB) operation. At the end, it is then possible to collect the current flowing through the MTJs with a near-field probe. To probe the MTJ resistance, two near-field techniques are investigated: conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) and scanning spreading resistance microscopy (SSRM). C-AFM provides a quite high resistivity probably due to its sensitivity to contact resistance. Using SSRM, a resistance of 12–16 kΩ and 17–22 kΩ were determined for “0” and “1” bits, which is in agreement with literature

Proceedings of the 30th European Symposium on the reliability of electron devices, failure physics and analysis

International audienceThis special issue of Microelectronics and Reliability is devoted to the publication of the papers presented during the 30th European Symposium on Reliability of Electron Devices, Failure Physics and Analysis, ESREF 2019, in Toulouse (France) from September 23th to September 26th, 2019.This international symposium continues to focus on recent developments and future directions in quality and reliability management of materials, devices and circuits for micro-, nano-, and optoelectronics. It provides a European forum for developing all aspects of reliability management and innovative analysis techniques for present and future electronic applications.For this 30th edition, in addition to the core topics of the conference, we involved the major actors of aeronautics, space and embedded systems industry to provide specific topics such as radiation hardening, very long-term reliability, high/low temperature challenges, obsolescence and counterfeit issues, wide bandgap power devices for the more electric aircraft and other embedded system applications. A special session for space and aeronautic systems is proposed

New paradigm for EBIC amplifier on FIB X-section

Electron Beam Induced Current is a powerful tool for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) imaging mode. In this paper, the history and evolution of this technique are discussed. Some important defects are presented as well as their technological interpretation. A new custom amplifier is presented and its implementation in Time Resolved EBIC (TREBIC) is also proposed, the main differences with EBIC are pointed out