Title :
Ultralow-noise PC-Based measurement system for the characterization of the metallizations of integrated circuits
Author :
Ciofi, Carmine ; De Marinis, Marco ; Neri, Bruno
Author_Institution :
Dipt. di Ingegneria, Pisa Univ., Italy
fDate :
8/1/1997 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The design, realization, and test of a multichannel ultralow-noise data acquisition system are described in this paper. The instrument, controlled by a personal computer (PC), has been specifically designed for performing low-frequency noise measurements on interconnect lines of an integrated circuits. A specifically designed ultralow-noise preamplifier has been realized and an optical link has been used for connecting the front-end of the instrument with the PC in order to minimize the effects of electromagnetic interferences. An overall background noise some orders of magnitude below that of preexisting instrumentation has been obtained. In particular, the power spectral density of the equivalent input voltage noise was 1.5, 3, 10 nV/(Hz)1/2 at 1, 0.1, and 0.01 Hz, respectively
Keywords :
VLSI; automatic test equipment; data acquisition; electromagnetic interference; electromigration; integrated circuit metallisation; integrated circuit testing; interference suppression; microcomputer applications; preamplifiers; 0.01 Hz; 0.1 Hz; 1 Hz; LF noise measurement; PC; background noise; digital control; electromagnetic interference; electromigration; equivalent input voltage noise; integrated circuits; interconnect lines; metallizations; multichannel ultralow-noise data acquisition; optical link; personal computer; power spectral density; preamplifier; spectral analysis; ultralow-noise measurement; Circuit testing; Data acquisition; Electromagnetic measurements; Instruments; Integrated circuit measurements; Low-frequency noise; Microcomputers; Noise measurement; Performance evaluation; System testing;
Journal_Title :
Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on
