Leakage measurement structure having through silicon vias

Abstract

A leakage measurement structure for through substrate vias which includes a semiconductor substrate; a plurality of through substrate vias in the semiconductor substrate extending substantially through the semiconductor substrate; and a leakage measurement structure located in the semiconductor substrate. The leakage measurement structure includes a plurality of substrate contacts extending into the semiconductor substrate; a plurality of sensing circuits connected to the plurality of through substrate vias and to the plurality of the substrate contacts, the plurality of sensing circuits providing a plurality of outputs indicative of current leakage from the plurality of through substrate vias; a built-in self test (BIST) engine to step through testing of the plurality of through substrate vias; and a memory coupled to the BIST engine to receive the outputs from the plurality of sensing circuits. Also included is a method of testing a semiconductor substrate.