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:
Apr. 06, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 23, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
Laurent Sourgen, Aix en Provence, FR;
Sylvie Wuidart, Pourrieres, FR;
Assignee:
SGS-Thomson Microelectronics S.A., Saint Genis, FR;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01R / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
324765 ;
Abstract
A method for detecting the presence of a passivation layer on an integrated circuit comprises sending out a train of pulses of different widths at one end of a line of metal that winds on the surface of the integrated circuit beneath the protection layer of the integrated circuit. The line of metal and the dielectric layer of the integrated circuit form an RC filter. The number of pulses received at the other end of the line of metal is counted and compared with at least one characteristic reference value of the filter.