Detectable Resistance Increase of Open Defects in Assembled PCBs by Quiescent Currents through Embedded Diodes

It is discussed in this paper what resistance increase can be detected by an electrical interconnect test method that occurs after shipping to market at interconnects between ICs and printed circuit boards. The test method is based on a quiescent current made flow through a diode embedded for the tests. Independently of the current variations caused by process variations of ICs, we show by Spice simulations that resistance increase of 0.5 Ω can be detected by the test method with a measurement tool of 0.1mV resolution.