Application of conductive AFM on the electrical characterization of single-bit marginal failure

AFM tool has become a very important analytical tool in the semiconductor industry specifically in the field of failure analysis. However due to the increasing complexity of the structure and architecture of ICs today, continuous improvement and development on this technique to expand its capabilities is an essential aspect to FA. In this paper, we demonstrate the efficacy of the method in the fault localization and electrical characterization of marginally failing devices. We show how c-AFM current mapping can be a suitable alternative method to voltage contrast imaging while c-AFM spectroscopy mode can be a more useful alternative to in-chamber-pico probing technique.