Semiconductor Test Device for Wafer-Level Power Parameter Estimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current semiconductor manufacturing processes require large-sized devices for higher frequency and power applications, leading to increased production costs and cycle times due to the need for wafer-level testing of electrical parameters like saturation current and output power, which cannot be accurately measured with standard equipment.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor device with a standard active region and a smaller test region, where the test device is designed to estimate electrical parameters of the standard device, allowing for wafer-level testing without cutting or packaging, using electrodes that mirror the standard device's structure and materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If large-sized devices are designed as standard devices to meet higher frequency and power requirements, then the current density in turn-on state increases, but the electrical parameters cannot be obtained through wafer-level test and production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the device into two distinct types: standard devices for final application and test devices for measurement. The test devices are specifically designed with smaller sizes that fall within the testable range of wafer-level equipment, while standard devices maintain large sizes for high power output. This segmentation allows simultaneous optimization of both measurement capability and power performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates test devices that replicate the structural characteristics of standard devices but at a reduced scale. These test devices are formed in dedicated test regions using the same manufacturing processes, allowing them to serve as accurate proxies for evaluating the electrical parameters of standard devices without requiring direct measurement of the large-sized standard devices themselves.
2Adaptability or versatility
If large-sized devices are designed as standard devices, then the gate width increases, but the production cycle and packaging resources are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segregates testing functions from production functions by creating dedicated test regions with test devices. This allows wafer-level testing to be performed on smaller test devices while standard devices are prepared for packaging, eliminating the sequential dependency where large standard devices must be individually tested after packaging. Multiple standard devices can thus be processed simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
Test devices are formed in dedicated test regions during the same manufacturing process as standard devices, but they enable preliminary electrical parameter evaluation at the wafer level before packaging. This preliminary action identifies qualified devices early, allowing subsequent packaging steps to focus only on validated units, thereby reducing overall production cycle time.
3Power
If large-sized devices are designed as standard devices, then the gate width increases, but the packaging resources are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent physically separates test devices from standard devices into different regions on the same substrate. Test devices occupy dedicated test regions with smaller area requirements, while standard devices are positioned in active regions optimized for their large-size power output requirements. This spatial segmentation allows efficient use of packaging resources for standard devices while test devices serve their measurement function with minimal packaging overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and relates to the field of semiconductor devices. The semiconductor device includes an active region, a test region and a passive region located outside the active region and the test region, wherein a standard device is formed in the active region, and a test device for testing performance parameters of the standard device is formed in the test region.