US 2003/0165178 A1 · Identifying defects in a conductive structure of a wafer, based on heat transfer therethrough

Abstract

Heat is applied to a conductive structure that includes one or more vias, and the temperature at or near the point of heat application is measured. The measured temperature indicates the integrity or the defectiveness of various features (e.g. vias and/or traces) in the conductive structure, near the point of heat application. Specifically, a higher temperature measurement (as compared to a measurement in a reference structure) indicates a reduced heat transfer from the point of heat application, and therefore indicates a defect. The reference structure can be in the same die as the conductive structure (e.g. to provide a baseline) or outside the die but in the same wafer (e.g. in a test structure) or outside the wafer (e.g. in a reference wafer), depending on the embodiment.

Claims30

Dependent claims

A method of identifying a defect in a semiconductor wafer, the method comprising:

applying heat to a conductive structure formed on said semiconductor wafer;
measuring a signal indicative of temperature of a portion of the conductive structure heated by conduction of the applied heat therethrough, thereby to obtain a measurement;
repeating the act of measuring at each of a number of different locations on the conductive structure, thereby to obtain a plurality of measurements;
and
determining presence of the defect in the conductive structure, depending on the plurality of measurements.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Identifying defects in a conductive structure of a wafer, based on heat transfer therethrough

Life of this patent

Identifying defects in a conductive structure of a wafer, based on heat transfer therethrough

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims30