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US 6,587,980 B2Granted
Intelligent binning for electrically repairable semiconductor chips
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorBrett M. Debenham
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and method for testing one or more semiconductor devices (e.g., packaged chips). Test equipment performs at least tests of a first type on the semiconductor device and identifies failures in the semiconductor device, if any. A number of failures is determined. In the case where there are some failures, decision circuitry determines whether it is more efficient to repeat the tests or repair the semiconductor device, if it is repairable.
Claims40
A system for semiconductor devices comprising:
- testing apparatus for performing at least one test of a first type on at least one semiconductor device consisting of a semiconductor device for identifying one or more types of failures in the at least one semiconductor device, the testing apparatus including a support for supporting a semiconductor device under test;
- processing circuitry for communicating with the testing apparatus and for determining at least one type of failure of a number of the identified types of failures, the processing circuitry providing at least one signal indicative of the at least one type of failure;
- and
- decision circuitry for receiving the at least one signal indicative of the at least one type of failure of the number of the identified types of failures and for considering the at least one type of failure of the number of the identified types of failures in one of designating the at least one semiconductor device for an additional procedure, for designating the at least one semiconductor device for repair, and for designating the at least one semiconductor device for additional tests of the first type, the decision circuitry for designating the at least one semiconductor device for the additional procedure if the at least one type of failure of the number of the identified types of failures is within a first number set, designating the at least one semiconductor device for repair if the number of the identified types of failures is within a second number set, and determining when the at least one semiconductor device is repairable.
1 more element
A system for testing at least one semiconductor device comprising:
- apparatus for performing tests of a first type on the at least one semiconductor device, for identifying at least two types of failures in the at least one semiconductor device, and for
- determining at least one failure of a number of the identified at least two types of failures, the test apparatus:
- designating the at least one semiconductor device for an additional procedure when the number of the identified at least two types of failures is within a first number set;
- designating the at least one semiconductor device for repair when the number of the identified at least two types of failures is within a second number set;
- determining when the at least one semiconductor device is repairable;
- and
- designating the at least one semiconductor device for additional tests of the first type when the number of the identified at least two types of failures is within a third number set.
4 more elements
A system for a plurality of semiconductor devices comprising:
- equipment for performing at least three tests of a plurality of tests of a first type on at least one semiconductor device to identify at least one type of failure of a number of types of failures in the at least one semiconductor device;
- processing circuitry for communicating with the test equipment, determining the at least one type of failure of the number of types of failures, and providing signals indicative thereof;
- and
- decision circuitry for receiving the signals indicative of the at least one type of failure of the number of types of failures, the decision circuitry for determining the number of types of failures and performing one of designating the at least one semiconductor device for an additional procedure, designating the at least one semiconductor device for repair, determining when the at least one semiconductor device is repairable, and designating the at least one semiconductor device for additional tests of the first type, the decision circuitry for classifying types of failures by class and numbers of the identified at least one type of failure, a total number of identified types of failures equaling a sum of at least one identified type of failure for each class, and the decision circuitry for considering the total number of identified types of failures and the number of identified types of failures in at least one of the classes of types of failures.
1 more element
A test for a plurality of semiconductor devices comprising:
- equipment connected to at least one semiconductor device of the plurality of semiconductor devices for performing tests of a first type on the at least one semiconductor device for identifying at least two types of failures of a plurality of types of failures in the at least one semiconductor device;
- circuitry for communicating with the test equipment determining a total number of identified types of failures and classifying the identified types of failures by a class and a number for each class determined, the total number of identified types of failures equaling a sum of the identified types of failures for each class;
- and
- circuitry for designating the at least one semiconductor device for an additional procedure when the total number of the identified types of failures is within a first number set, the circuitry for designating the at least one semiconductor device for repair when the total number of identified types of failures is within a second number set and a number of identified types of failures in a predetermined class is not within an auxiliary number set, the circuitry for determining when the at least one semiconductor device is repairable, and the decision circuitry for performing additional tests of the first type on the at least one semiconductor device when one of the total number of the identified types of failures is within a third number set and the number of identified types of failures in the predetermined class is within the auxiliary number set.
1 more element
A method for a plurality of semiconductor devices comprising:
- utilizing a processing circuitry for performing tests of a first type on the semiconductor devices to identify types of failures in the semiconductor devices;
- determining a number of the identified types of failures;
- designating a semiconductor device having at least one identified type of failure for an additional procedure when the number of the identified types of failures is within a first number set;
- determining if the number of the identified types of failures is within a second number set;
- repairing the semiconductor device when the number of the identified types of failures is within the second number set;
- performing other tests of the first type on the semiconductor device when the number of the identified types of failures is within a third number set;
- and
- determining when a semiconductor device of the plurality of semiconductor devices is repairable.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.