A simple electrical method for etch bias and process reliability determination

A fast and simple electrical method is developed to characterize the etch bias and post-patterned ILD breakdown strength of back-end-of-line (BEOL) interconnects, as well as the middle-of-line (MOL) contact/poly module. The method provides a timely and valuable monitoring mechanism for assessing lithography, etch, thin-film quality and process reliability windows.