R. Medikonduri, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Stafford, TX

Summary: The probable bad units were prevented to be shipped to the customer. The yield is enhanced by implementing the containment and corrective actions on the ATE by increasing the programming pulses to program the bit harder and by adding margin ‘0’ read besides read verify. It is also been found that the location of the selected source while nanoprobing the flash bit nearer to the drain contact is very important especially when the source sheet resistance is higher. Lastly, the impact of plasma etching during the deprocessing of the die, on the programmed bit is found. The plasma etching seems to unintentionally erase the programmed bit.