Patent · US Expired

Method for testing semiconductor wafers

US6507800B1 · kind B1 · utility

27Cited by
4References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMar 13, 2000
Grant dateJan 14, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 13, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L2924/014
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method for identifying failure signatures of semiconductor wafers is disclosed. Testing for obtaining a first set of test data indicative of a failure signature is performed on a number of wafers having circuit patterns thereon. The test data is divided into a first subset of test data associated with a failure signature and a second subset of test data not associated with the failure signature. The set of test data is used to generate coefficients of a discriminant function. Testing is performed on a subsequently manufactured wafer to obtain a second set of test data. The discriminant function is applied to the second set of test data to obtain a discriminant value, and the wafer is identified as having the failure signature when the discriminant value is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.