Inspection Metal Wire for Semiconductor Failure Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current semiconductor manufacturing processes face challenges in accurately detecting and identifying failures in metal wires during the manufacturing of semiconductor wafers, leading to defective products and delayed feedback, as conventional tests are limited in precision and require time-consuming analysis using FIB or SEM.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a metal wire for inspection and electrodes for inspection on the semiconductor substrate, which are electrically connected and used for both external connections and inspection, allowing for real-time electrical testing of metal wire reliability and failure detection during the manufacturing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional electrical tests are performed on metal wires in semiconductor wafers, then product reliability can be evaluated, but the testing process is time-consuming and requires polishing or FIB processing which delays feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by forming inspection electrodes and inspection metal wires simultaneously with the regular metal wires during the manufacturing process, before final product completion. This allows reliability testing to be performed early in the manufacturing sequence, eliminating the need for time-consuming post-manufacturing polishing or FIB processing, and enabling rapid feedback while maintaining reliability assessment capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating duplicate inspection structures (inspection electrodes and inspection metal wires) that mirror the regular metal wire connections. These copied inspection wires are electrically connected to electrodes that extend to the wafer surface, allowing non-destructive electrical testing of metal wire reliability without requiring physical sectioning or polishing of the actual product wires
2Quantity of substance
If metal wires are formed with finer pitch to accommodate more element electrodes, then element electrode density increases, but detecting and identifying failures in these fine metal wires becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary testing system consisting of inspection electrodes and inspection metal wires that are electrically connected to the actual metal wires. This intermediary structure allows failures in fine-pitch metal wires to be detected through electrical measurements at the wafer surface, bypassing the difficulty of directly observing or testing the fine embedded wires that would otherwise require complex microscopy or destructive analysis
Data Source
AI summary
A metal wire for inspection and an electrode for inspection are formed on a region of a semiconductor substrate where a metal wire and an electrode for external connection are not formed. The metal wire for inspection and the electrode for inspection electrically detect an open failure, a short-circuit failure and a leakage failure of the metal wire and a connection failure between an element electrode and the metal wire. A semiconductor wafer is subjected to an electrical test, so that it is possible to detect the aforementioned failures with good accuracy during a manufacturing process.