A VDD Correction Method for Static Stability Test of SRAM Bit Cell

Abstract

SRAM stability is a major concern in nanometer CMOS technologies. As the most important metrics of SRAM static stability, the static characteristics of SRAM are derived by static characteristic curves (read butterfly curve, standby butterfly curve, read N curve, write N curve and WNM curve). This paper deduces the read butterfly curve transfer function as an example to show the effect of supply voltage deviation. In order to increase the quantity of SRAM DUTs (Device under Tests) and test accuracy, we propose a test method with VDD correction which eliminates the effect of supply voltage deviation. First, an addressable test structure is applied, where the transmission gates are used to force and sense the node voltages, and then correct the voltages. Second, a test algorithm with fast convergence combining the bisection method and PID (Proportion Integral Differential) algorithm is proposed to correct the voltages. SPICE simulations show that the proposed method reduces the error from approximately 10% (commonly used methods) to less than 2%. It is further implemented in a standard 55nm CMOS process, and the static characteristic curves of 1k-bits SRAM DUTs are measured within the accuracy range of 1 mV, which fit well with the simulation results, indicating the method can accurately measure 1k-bits DUTs.