System and method for product yield prediction

• Main Authors: LEE SHERRY F, STINE BRIAN E, MICHAELS KIMON, DAVIS JOSEPH C, HESS CHRISTOPHER, KIBARIAN JOHN, STASHOWER DAVID M, WEILAND LARG H, CIPLICKAS DENNIS J, MOZUMDER PURNENDU K
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 08.04.2008
• Subjects: BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; CALCULATING; COMPUTING; CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; CONTROLLING; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; ELECTRIC SOLID STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; ELECTRICITY; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MEASURING; MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS ORELEMENTS; PHYSICS; REGULATING; SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; TESTING

A system and method for predicting yield of integrated circuits includes at least one type of characterization vehicle which incorporates at least one feature which is representative of at least one type of feature to be incorporated in the final integrated circuit product. The characterization vehicle is subjected to at least one of the process operations making up the fabrication cycle to be used in fabricating the integrated circuit product in order to produce a yield model. The yield model embodies a layout as defined by the characterization vehicle and preferably includes features which facilitate the gathering of electrical test data and testing of prototype sections at operating speeds. An extraction engine extracts predetermined layout attributes from a proposed product layout. Operating on the yield model, the extraction engine produces yield predictions as a function of layout attributes and broken down by layers or steps in the fabrication process. These yield predictions are then used to determine which areas in the fabrication process require the most improvement.