Apparatus and method for probing integrated circuits using polarization difference probing
US7659981B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 27, 2005 |
| Grant date | Feb 9, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 27, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01R31/307
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system for probing a DUT is disclosed, the system having a pulsed laser source, a CW laser source, beam optics designed to point a reference beam and a probing beam at the same location on the DUT, optical detectors for detecting the reflected reference and probing beams, and a collection electronics. The beam optics is a common-path polarization differential probing (PDP) optics. The common-path PDP optics divides the incident laser beam into two beams of orthogonal polarization—one beam simulating a reference beam while the other simulating a probing beam. Both reference and probing beams are pointed to the same location on the DUT. Due to the intrinsic asymmetry of a CMOS transistor, the interaction of the reference and probing beams with the DUT result in different phase modulation in each beam. This difference can be investigated to study the response of the DUT to the stimulus signal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.