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:
Oct. 08, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 26, 2000
Michael J. Dunn, Austin, TX (US);
Mark Brandon Fuselier, Austin, TX (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Austin, TX (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for verifying a process step in the fabrication of an integrated circuit device is implemented. A ring oscillator is fabricated on the dice constituting the integrated circuit device being manufactured. The ring oscillator structure is adapted for sensitizing the ring oscillator to variations in the process step being verified. During test of the wafer containing the dice, a scan of the frequency of the ring oscillator across the wafer for each die under test is made. Deviations in the ring oscillator frequency from a preselected nominal value delimit regions of the wafer for which the process step is marginal.