A. C. T. Quah, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; T. L. Tan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; C. L. Gan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; J. C. H. Phang, Centre for Integrated Circuit Failure Analysis and Reliability (CICFAR), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; C. M. Chua, SEMICAPS PTE LTD, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; C. M. Ng, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd, Singapore, Singapore; A. -. Y. Du, Institute of Microelectronics, Singapore, Singapore

Summary: In this paper, the application of pulsed-TIVA for the localization of Cu/low-k interconnect reliability defects will be described. It will be shown that subtle dielectric defects which are otherwise not detectable with conventional TIVA can be detected with pulsed-TIVA.