Test and Diagnostic Trends for Nanometer Technology.

In a highly dynamic semiconductor manufacturing technology, the migration to the next process technology node tries to create a smaller-faster-cheaper chip. To achieve this, the integrated circuit (IC) designs are becoming more complex and new manufacturing materials/processes are introduced. Additionally, demands for sustainable yield and shorter time to volume production have to be met as they govern the profitability of the semiconductor industry. As a result, rapid yield improvement techniques are crucial to overcome huge yield losses. Any yield improvement technique typically involves detecting the yield loss (testing) and identifying its root cause (diagnosis). This paper presents a survey of the existing research work reported in the literature for test and diagnostics of nanometer chips and presents interesting open issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]