Wafer-Level Test Path Pattern Recognition and Test Characteristics for Test-Induced Defect Diagnosis

Wafer defect maps provide precious information of fabrication and test process defects, so they can be used as valuable sources to improve fabrication and test yield. This paper applies artificial intelligence based pattern recognition techniques to distinguish fab-induced defects from test-induced ones. As a result, test quality, reliability and yield could be improved accordingly. Wafer test data contain site-dependent information regarding test configurations in automatic test equipment, including effective load push force, gap between probe and load-board, probe tip size, probe-cleaning stress, etc. Our method analyzes both the test paths and site-dependent test characteristics to identify test-induced defects. Experimental results achieve 96.83% prediction accuracy of six NXP products, which show that our methods are both effective and efficient.