The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 08, 2022
Filed:
Jul. 14, 2020
Applicant:
Stmicroelectronics (Rousset) Sas, Rousset, FR;
Inventors:
Assignee:
STMicroelectronics (Rousset) SAS, Rousset, FR;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 27/22 (2006.01); G01N 27/12 (2006.01); H01L 23/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01N 27/223 (2013.01); G01N 27/121 (2013.01); H01L 23/564 (2013.01);
Abstract
Moisture that is possibly present in an integrated circuit is detected autonomously by the integrated circuit itself. An interconnect region of the integrated circuit includes a metal level with a first track and a second track which are separated by a dielectric material. A detection circuit applies a potential difference between the first and second tracks. A current circulating in one of the first and second tracks in response to the potential difference is measured and compared to a threshold. If the current exceeds the threshold, this is indicative of the presence of moisture which renders said dielectric material less insulating.