Optical charge modulation as an internal voltage probe for CMOS ICs

Author

Koskowich, Gregory N. ; Soma, Mani

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Washington Univ., Seattle, WA, USA

Volume

24

Issue

10

fYear

1988

fDate

10/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1981

Lastpage

1984

Abstract

The use of optical charge modulation of refractive index as a probe for internal voltages in CMOS integrated circuits is examined. The Kramers-Kronig relations are used to calculate the index of refraction from absorption coefficient measurements. Both free-carrier depletion and the internal electric field of the p-n junction modulator are shown to affect the measurement sensitivity of this technique. The sensitivity is calculated from experimental results and is dependent on which device, NMOS or PMOS, is under test. These results contradict the predictions of a previous model which was developed using the Drude theory of free-carrier modulation of the refractive index

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; Kramers-Kronig relations; electro-optical effects; elemental semiconductors; integrated circuit testing; optical modulation; refractive index; sensitivity; silicon; voltage measurement; CMOS integrated circuits; Drude theory; Kramers-Kronig relations; NMOS; PMOS; Si; absorption coefficient measurements; experimental results; free-carrier depletion; free-carrier modulation; internal electric field; internal voltage measurement; internal voltage probe; measurement sensitivity; optical charge modulation; p-n junction modulator; refractive index modulation; semiconductors; CMOS integrated circuits; Integrated circuit measurements; Integrated optics; Optical modulation; Optical refraction; Optical sensors; Optical variables control; Probes; Refractive index; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.8531

Filename

8531