Development of an LTEM prototype system for LSI failure analysis

We have developed a prototype system of a laser THz emission microscope (LTEM) for inspecting electrical failures in large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs). LTEM measures the THz emission images on LSIs by exciting the p-n junctions with ultra fast laser pulses. Without any electrical probing, we successfully identified interconnection built-in defects such as open or short circuit in C7552 ISCAS'85 benchmark circuits using the prototype system.