SBIR Phase I: Novel Electric Field Probe for High-Speed Integrated Circuits and Semiconductor Devices

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a novel electro-optic method for noninvasively probing electric fields, and hence waveforms, in integrated circuits without external probes. The technique will work on any semiconductor regardless of its crystal structure, and can be used for both imaging and single point detection without degradation of temporal resolution. Because the technique is optically based, no parasitic capacitance is added to the device being measured. A femtosecond laser probes the device to be measured; thus the technique's temporal resolution is several orders of magnitude faster than the time resolution required to probe present devices. Since silicon MOSFET technology is the dominant technology used in logic and memory devices, it is important to develop noninvasive techniques that work on silicon-based devices. This method for measuring the electric fields present in semiconductor devices will be effective on silicon as well as any other semiconductor. The benefit to industry, government, and academia will be enormous, allowing integrated circuits to be probed and p-n junctions to be studied and imaged. Commercial applications of the proposed research include the development of techniques for studying semiconductor devices, and the development of instrumentation to measure electronic waveforms in integrated circuits noninvasively. Such instrumentation could be used to diagnose problems in integrated circuits during development, on production lines, and in circuit boards.