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Calibration Enabled Scalable Current Sensor Module for Quiescent Current Testing

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Abstract

Semiconductor testing is aimed at screening fabrication defects that impact expected functionality. While catastrophic defects result in non working devices, parametric faults result in marginalities and are of increasing concern with deep sub-micron process technologies. This work presents a scheme to monitor Circuit-Under-Test (CUT) static bias current to identify catastrophic as well as parametric faults. All circuits require a deterministic amount of DC bias current which may vary outside the specifications when faults exist within the circuit. We propose a compensated current measurement Built-in-Current-Sensor (BICS) scheme, which can be used for sub-system level/circuit-level bias current measurements. The BICS provides accessibility to internal blocks and enables isolated parametric testing. Calibration routine enables process independence and provides robustness. The BICS is compatible with Very-Low-Cost Automatic Test Equipment (VLC-ATE), and can be used for detailed parametric testing in the production environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Engineering Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, 78712, TX, USA

    Sachin Dileep Dasnurkar & Jacob A. Abraham

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  1. Sachin Dileep Dasnurkar
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  2. Jacob A. Abraham
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Correspondence to Sachin Dileep Dasnurkar.

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Responsible Editor: D. Keezer

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Dasnurkar, S.D., Abraham, J.A. Calibration Enabled Scalable Current Sensor Module for Quiescent Current Testing. J Electron Test 28, 697–704 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10836-012-5327-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10836-012-5327-y

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