Achieving higher yield through diagnosis

With the continuous drive to smaller features, introduction of new manufacturing materials, sub-wavelength lithography, and process and design interaction, achieving acceptable yield at technology nodes 130 nm and below is proving to be a daunting task. At these technology nodes yield is limited not just by random defects but also increasingly by systematic yield detracting mechanisms. In addition, a larger portion of the defects are becoming non-visual and/or parametric in nature. In fact many defects that cause electrical failures are not detectable by the traditional defect sourcing techniques such as inline inspection