The Pressing Probe Needle Technique for Characterizing Mechanical Stress Sensitivity of Semiconductor Devices

This paper discusses the so called Pressing Probe Needle (PPN) technique for characterizing out-of-plane mechanical stress sensitivity of arbitrary semiconductor devices, implemented on a standard parametric test system. By utilizing a motorized probe positioner and a force calibrated standard tungsten parametric probe needle, this fast and highspatial-resolution technique provides valuable insights into mechanical stress effects of process and device layout options. Such results are highly beneficial for high-precision analog circuit design and layout optimization.