Ultra high precision circuit diagnosis through seebeck generation and charge monitoring

This work investigates the generator properties of the Seebeck effect and the advantages of current detection via internal charge monitoring over external SMU measurement. Each of the two aspects increases precision in circuit diagnostics. A detailed study of the Seebeck signal enables classification of not only malfunctions, but local characterization of each circuit cell, node or device in terms of operating condition or logical state. Hence, this technique provides a new level of precise circuit diagnosis. Charges are a widely neglected physical quantity in electronic circuit analysis. An ultra-precise measurement of local currents can be derived from monitoring small scale charge collection. This concept increases current sensitivity by several orders of magnitude compared to the most precise SMU results. For example, the faint degradation currents of dielectrics under stress can be detected well below breakdown. A current sensitivity to the 10 aA regime is demonstrated here for the first time in microelectronics.