Programmable techniques for cell stability test and debug in embedded SRAMs

Reliable cell stability test of modern embedded SRAMs calls for DFT techniques with a flexible detection threshold. We present two programmable cell stability test and debug techniques that use partially discharged floating bit lines to apply a weak overwrite stress to a cell under test. The applied stress can be digitally adjusted to track the process variations or the desired pass/fail threshold. The proposed techniques are demonstrated to exceed the regular data retention test in both the defect coverage and detection range.