Non-intrusive detection of defects in mixed-signal integrated circuits using light activation
- Resource Type
- Conference
- Authors
- Esen, Baris; Coyette, Anthony; Xama, Nektar; Dobbelaere, Wim; Vanhooren, Ronny; Gielen, Georges
- Source
- 2017 IEEE International Test Conference (ITC) Test Conference (ITC), 2017 IEEE International. :1-7 Oct, 2017
- Subject
- Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Computing and Processing
Integrated circuit modeling
Circuit faults
Photodiodes
Transistors
Testing
Controllability
- Language
- ISSN
- 2378-2250
The quality level of mixed-signal ICs lags behind the below-part-per-million defect test escape rates of digital ICs, as a result of the traditional testing based on performance specifications. Methods increasing the controllability to solve the problem of the low fault coverage of analog and mixed-signal circuits are in practice limited due to the excessive area overhead they require and their impact on the normal circuit operation. This paper presents a non-intrusive method to improve the controllability using light as an activation mechanism. The necessary simulation models are introduced to use the proposed method in the context of a defect-oriented test approach. This work also describes a workflow which enables the application of the method to large-scale industrial circuits. Finally, effective results are shown on an industrial mixed-signal front-end circuit under test (CUT) demonstrating around 27% increase in the number of detectable defects.