1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a semiconductor structure and a testing method for testing the same, and more particular to a semiconductor structure and a testing method for testing a quality of an opening structure in the semiconductor structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Interconnection technology in a semiconductor structure is widely used in three dimension IC. For example, a via, such as a through silicon via (TSV), can be used to penetrate a silicon substrate and interconnect chips vertically. Three dimension IC package follows the Moore's Law and can improve the system integration and efficiency by a relatively low cost.
Not only a good via manufacturing technology, but also a fast and specific testing method for testing the quality of a via is important. A fast and specific testing method for testing the quality of a via can confirm the reliability and stability of the product. Therefore, how to test the quality of the via simply and in a fast speed is important and critical for avoiding a current leakage and open circuit in a semiconductor having the via.
The invention is related to a semiconductor structure and a testing method for testing the same. The testing method can be applied to test the quality of a conductor post in a via or an electrical connection between the opening structure and the conductive bump in the semiconductor structure, after a first metal layer procedure. The testing method has a plurality of advantages, such as simple testing procedures, low complexity for result analysis, and fast testing time.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a semiconductor structure comprising a substrate, a dielectric layer, a conductor post, a first conductive layer structure and a second conductive layer structure are provided. The substrate comprises an opening structure. The dielectric layer is disposed on a sidewall of the opening structure. The conductor post is disposed in the opening structure and covers the dielectric layer. The first and second conductive layer structures are electrically connected to the conductor post. A voltage difference is existed between the first and second conductive layer structures, such that a current is passing through the first conductive layer structure, the opening structure and second conductive layer structure. A resistance values is related to the voltage difference and the current. A dimension of the opening structure is 10 times greater than a dimension of the first and second conductive layer structures.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for testing a semiconductor structure is provided. The method comprises following steps. A semiconductor structure is provided. The semiconductor structure comprises a substrate, a dielectric layer, a conductor post, a first conductive layer structure and a second conductive layer structure. The substrate has an opening structure. The dielectric layer is disposed on a side surface of the opening structure, the conductor post is disposed in the opening structure and covering the dielectric layer. The first conductive layer structure and the second conductive layer structure are electrically connected with the conductor post, and the first conductive layer structure and the second conductive layer structure are respectively disposed at opposite sides of a central axis of the opening structure. A dimension of the opening structure is at least 10 times greater than a dimension of the first conductive layer structure and a dimension of the second conductive layer structure. A voltage difference is applied between the first conductive layer structure and the second conductive layer structure. A current passing through the first conductive layer structure, the opening structure and the second conductive layer structure is measured. A resistance is obtained according to the voltage difference and the current. A testing result is determined according to the resistance.
The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiment(s). The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In one embodiment, the substrate 100 has a first surface S10 and a second surface S12 opposite to the first surface S10. The opening structure P is passing through and exposed from the first surface S10. The first conductive layer structure 108a and second conductive layer structure 108b are disposed on the first surface S10 of the substrate 100. The conductor post 106 can be formed by a metal depositing process and is filled inside the opening structure P. The material of the conductor post 106 can be conductive material, such as copper (Cu), tungsten (W) and polysilicon, etc.
The first conductive layer structure 108a and the second conductive layer structure 108b are disposed on the first surface S10 (upper surface) of the substrate 100, and extends from the first surface S10 of the substrate 100 to the conductor post 106, exceeds the oxide layer 104 and barrier layer 102 and contact a surface of the conductor post.
A dimension of the opening structure P (such as a height) is at least ten times greater than a dimension (such as height) of the first conductive layer structure 108a and a dimension (such as height) of the second conductive layer structure 108b. In one embodiment, the dimension of the opening structure P is 100 times greater than that of the first conductive layer structure 108a and second conductive layer structure 108b. For example, the height of the opening structure P is 40 μm, and the height of the first conductive layer structure 108a and the height of the second conductive layer structure 108b are 200 nm. The height of the structure is merely one example embodiment, and the invention is not limited thereto.
A voltage difference (not illustrated) exist between the first conductive layer structure 108a and the second conductive layer structure 108b, such that a current I passes through the first conductive layer structure 108a, the opening structure P and the second conductive layer structure 108b. In
Referring to
The first conductive layer structure 208a comprises a first conductive layer 212 and a second conductive layer 214, the second conductive layer structure 208b comprises a third conductive layer 216 and a forth conductive layer 218. As shown in
In
In this case, a current I1 is passing through the first conductive layer 212, the opening P1 and the third conductive layer 216, a current I2 is passing through the third conductive layer 216, the opening P2 and the second conductive layer 214, and a current I3 is passing through the second conductive layer 214, the opening P3 and the forth conductive layer 218. A resistance can be obtained by the voltage difference and the current, and whether there is a defect exists in the conductor post 2060, the conductor post 2062 and the conductor post 2064 can be determined.
In above embodiments, the first conductive layer structure 108a, the second conductive layer structure 108b, the first conductive layer structure 208a and the second conductive layer structure 208b are for example but not limited to a first metal layer (M1) procedure in a manufacturing process. In one embodiment, a voltage difference can be provided between the first conductive layer structure 108a and the second conductive layer structure 108b (the first conductive layer structure 208a and the second conductive layer structure 208b) after the first metal layer procedure, for determining a quality of the conductor post 106 (or the conductor post 2060, the conductor post 2062 and the conductor post 2064).
During the detection process, merely parameter and interfaces between the opening structure P, the first conductive layer structure 108a, the second conductive layer structure 108b, the first pad 110a and the second pad 110b (or the openings P1˜P3, the first conductive layer structure 208a, the second conductive layer structure 208b and pads respectively coupling to the first conductive layer structure 208a and the second conductive layer structure 208b) the conductor post 106 (or the conductor post 2060, the conductor post 2062 and the conductor post 2064) are needed to be considered, the detecting process and complexity of result analysis can be simplified, thereby the detecting process for the opening structure P (or opening structure P′) can be performed in a fast speed and simplified process. In other embodiments, the process can be adjusted based on the manufacturing requirement. The testing method for the opening structure P (or opening structure P′) can be performed after a second metal layer process (M2) or a further process.
After the thinning process, a semiconductor structure 10′ can be obtained, the semiconductor structure 10′ comprises a polished substrate 100′, a polished barrier layer 102′ and a polished oxide layer 104′. The opening structure P is exposed from the first surface S10 and the polished second surface S12′.
In one embodiment, the substrate 100 can be a silicon substrate, and the opening structure P can be a through-silicon via (TSV). In one embodiment, an active element (not illustrated) is further disposed to a peripheral area of the opening structure P in the substrate 100, the active element can be NMOS and PMOS. In a via-middle process, an active element is formed before the TSV process. In another one embodiment, the opening structure P in the substrate 100 without an active element can be used as an interposer to connect two chips in 3D IC technology.
After the quality test of the conductor post 106 in the opening structure P, further process can be performed after the first conductive layer structure 108a and the second conductive layer structure 108b. For example, if the first conductive layer structure 108a and the second conductive layer structure 108b are the nth metal layer, the process for forming via, the (n+1)th, (n+2)th, (n+3)th metal layers . . . can be performed according to the requirement of the manufacturing process.
The substrate 300 has an opening structure, the opening structure can comprise a plurality of TSV sets 30, oxide layer 304 and barrier layer 302 are respectively disposed on a side surface and a bottom surface of the TSV sets 30. The conductor post 306 is disposed in the TSV sets 30, and covers the barrier layer 302 and the oxide layer 304. The first conductive layer structure 308a and the second conductive layer structure 308b are respectively disposed at two opposite sides of a central axis the TSV sets 30, to electrically connected to the conductor post 306. In order to highlight the characteristics of the embodiments of the invention, parts of the elements are not illustrated according to and actual proportion.
As shown in
In one embodiment, the substrate 300 has a first surface S30 and a second surface S32 opposite to the first surface S30. The opening 30a and the opening 30b of the TSV set 30 penetrate through and exposed from first surface S30 and second surface S32. The first conductive layer structure 308a and penetrate second conductive layer structure 308b are disposed on the first surface S30 of the substrate 300. The manufacturing method and material of the conductor post 306 can be the same as that of the conductor post 106 in
The dimension (such as height) of the TSV set 30 is at least ten times greater than that of the first conductive layer structure 308a and the second conductive layer structure 308b. In one embodiment, the dimension (such as height) of the TSV set 30 is 100 times greater than that of the first conductive layer structure 308a and the second conductive layer structure 308b, and the invention is not limited thereto.
A voltage difference (not illustrated) is between the first conductive layer structure 308a and second conductive layer structure 308b, such that a current passes through the first conductive layer structure 308a, the TSV set 30 and the second conductive layer structure 308b. A resistance can be obtained from the voltage difference and the current, the resistance is related to a quality of an electrical connection between the TSV set 30 and conductive bump 40. Therefore, a defect (such as an open circuit or current leakage) between the TSV set 30 and the conductive bump 40 can be detected based on the resistance.
Referring to an enlarge view in
Referring to
The testing method for the electrical connection between the opening and the conductive bump showing in
The first conductive layer structure 320a comprises a plurality of first conductive layer 328a, first conductive layer 328c and first conductive layer 328e. The second conductive layer structure 320b comprises a plurality of second conductive layer 328b, second conductive layer 328d and second conductive layer 328f. The first conductive layer 328a, the first conductive layer 328c and the first conductive layer 328e and the second conductive layer 328b, the second conductive layer 328d and the second conductive layer 328f are interlacedly arranged.
By applying a voltage difference between the first pad 310c and the second pad 310d to generate a current passing through, such that voltage differences between each first conductive layer 328a, first conductive layer 328c and first conductive layer 328e and adjacent second conductive layer 328b, second conductive layer 328d and second conductive layer 328f. An electrical connection quality between the TSV sets 30 and a conductive bump 40 can be determined according to a resistance that is related to the voltage difference and the current.
In one embodiment, the method in first embodiment (
Based on the above, the testing method according to the embodiments of the invention can determine the quality (such as a reliability and a stability) of the opening structure. In one embodiment, the quality of the conductor post in the opening structure can be determined to check whether there is a defect of an open circuit or current leakage after the first metal layer procedure. In one embodiment, the quality of the electrical connection between the opening structure and the conductive bump can be determined. In one embodiment, the detecting process can be simplified and the complexity can be reduced, so that the testing process of the opening structure can speed up and simplified.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.