Method of identifying a weakest interface where delamination is most likely to occur in a multi-layer dielectric film stack
AssigneeVLSI Technology, Inc.
InventorsLandon B. Vines, Felix H. Fujishiro, Danny W. Echtle, Annette Garcia
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Abstract
A method of identifying a weakest interface where delamination is most likely to occur in a multi-layer dielectric film stack formed on a semiconductor wafer includes scribing processed layers including the multi-layer dielectric film stack with an applied force of a selected and constant magnitude, measuring the depth of a cavity formed in the processed layers by such scribing, and identifying the weakest interface by comparing the measured depth against the known depths of the interfaces between adjacent layers of the multi-layer dielectric film stack.
Claims13
A method of identifying a weakest interface where delamination is most likely to occur between adjacent layers in a multi-layer dielectric film stack formed within processed layers of a semiconductor wafer, comprising the steps of:
- contacting a top surface of said processed layers with a pointed instrument applied with a force such that a cavity having a depth is formed in said processed layers by said pointed instrument;
- measuring the depth of said cavity;
- and
- identifying the weakest interface where delamination is most likely to occur from the measured depth of said cavity.
A method of identifying a weakest interface where delamination is most likely to occur between adjacent layers in a multi-layer dielectric film stack formed within processed layers of a semiconductor wafer, comprising the steps of:
- repetitively contacting a top surface of said processed layers with a pointed instrument applied with a force such that a plurality of cavities individually having a depth are formed in said processed layers by said pointed instrument;
- measuring the respective depths of at least two of said plurality of cavities formed in said processed layers by said pointed instrument applied with said force;
- and
- identifying said weakest interface where delamination is most likely to occur in said multi-layer dielectric film stack from a statistical analysis of the measured depths of the at least two of said plurality of cavities formed in said processed layers by said pointed instrument applied with said force.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.