Two-Photon Absorption Laser Assisted Device Alteration Using 1340nm CW Laser: Critical Timing Fault Isolation & Localization for 32nm MPU and Beyond

In this paper, we report on the first observation and study of two-photon absorption (TPA) based laser assisted device alteration (LADA) using a continuous-wave (CW) 1340nm laser. The study was conducted using LADA systems equipped with high numerical aperture (NA) liquid and solid immersion lens objectives on Intel’s 45 nm and 32 nm multiprocessor units (MPU) and test chips. The power densities achievable using these lenses are similar to those reported in the literature for TPA in silicon of CW 1455nm light [1]. We show that the induced photocurrent has a quadratic dependence on the input laser power, a key indicator of two-photon phenomenon. Our results imply that even when using 1340nm wavelength CW lasers, there is a potential for laser invasiveness with the high power densities achievable using high NA objectives. Laser induced damage of the DUT is also a possibility at these high power densities, particularly with the solid immersion lens (SIL). However, we show that the DUT damage threshold can be increased by reducing the DUT’s temperature. Finally, we present results demonstrating a >40% improvement in localization of critical timing faults using TPA based LADA, when compared to traditional 1064nm wavelength (single-photon absorption) LADA.