Impact of Temperature on Test Quality

The usage of more advanced, less mature processes during manufacturing of semiconductor devices has increased the need for performing unconventional types of testing, like temperature-testing, in order to maintain the same high quality levels. However, performing temperature-testing is costly. This paper proposes a viable low-cost alternative to temperature testing that quantifies the impact of temperature variations on the test quality and also determines optimal test conditions. The test flow proposed is empirically validated on an industrial-standard die. The results obtained show that majority of the defects that were originally detected by temperature-testing are also detected by the proposed test flow, thereby reducing the dependence on temperature testing to achieve zero-defect quality. Details of an interesting defect behavior at cold test conditions is also presented.