Combining electron and focused ion beam techniques for failure analysis and design verification of integrated circuits

Abstract

Abstract The increasing complexity of todays integrated circuits (IC's) results sometimes in physical restrictions for electron beam probing. Measurements on passivated structures as well as on buried layers are impeding the voltage accuracy and leading to increased crosstalk effects. By applying different focused ion beam (FIB) techniques like physical sputtering and metal depositioning these difficulties can be solved. This paper describes the physical restrictions and demonstrates the combination of electron and ion beam techniques. The results are compared with those recently achieved without focused ion beam support.