A Process and Technology-Tolerant I DDQ Method for IC Diagnosis

The use of I DDQ test as a defect reliability screen has been widely used to improve device quality. However, the increase in subthreshold leakage currents in deep submicron technologies has made it difficult to set an absolute pass/fail threshold. Recent work has focused on strategies that calibrate for process and/or technology-related variation effects. In this paper, a new I DDQ technique is proposed that is based on an extension of a V DDT-based method called Transient Signal Analysis (TSA). The method, called Quiescent Signal Analysis or QSA, uses the I DDQ s measured at multiple supply pins as a means of localizing defects. Increases in I DDQ due to a defect are regionalized by the resistive element of the supply grid. Therefore, each supply pin sources a unique fraction of th