Laser testing of integrated circuits (ELASTIC)

The author describes results of a novel method which uses two independent approaches. The first processes information obtained from a scanning laser beam reflected from a surface profile. The second approach relies on the detection of the radiative modes of surface plasmons along interfaces in heterostructures. Scanning may be of a raster nature over the surface, or follow a suitable path search along metal lines. The latter search type has been simulated in PROLOG. Such a topological approach to the testing problem offers a test structure for exploitation using a laser beam probe technique. The results presented are based upon reflectance measurements obtained by laser scanning