Chapter 3 DC and Parametric Measurements

Continuity

Purpose of Continuity Testing

 ATE

to Test Head connection

Purpose of Continuity Testing

 Electromechanical relays

Continuity

Continuity Test Technique

 On

chip protection diodes

Protect input and output from Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and other overvoltage Pins have either one or two reverse biased diodes

Continuity

Continuity Test Technique

 Force

current - measure voltage

DUT power supplies are grounded Current level is usually between 100uA and 1mA Diodes connected to the positive supply - current forced in Diodes connected to the negative supply - current forced out Output diode voltage drop usually is between 550mV and 750mV If tester does not see diode voltage drop or the current reaches its voltage clamp, the test fails

Continuity

Serial vs. Parallel Continuity Testing

 Serial

is one pin at a time can not see pin to pin shorts

Test time intensive Alternating odd and even pin parallel test

 Parallel

 Analog parallel

per-pin measurement is not available in some testers

Single current source and volt meter can be used one pin at a time

 Digital

per-pin measurement is available, but may introduce noise into sensitive analog circuit

Leakage Currents

Purpose of Leakage Testing

 Good

design should have leakage current of less than 1uA  Detects poorly processed integrated circuits

Improper operation in customer end application

 Detect

weak devices

Initially function but eventually fail after unacceptably short lifetime (Infant mortality)

Leakage Currents

Leakage Test Technique

 Force

DC voltage - measure small current

Typically measured twice input voltage equal to positive supply input voltage set to ground or negative supply Input current high (IIH) and input current low (IIL) Digital and analog inputs

 Output

leakage current (IOZ)

Measured same as IIH & IIL output pin must be placed in a high impedance (HIZ) state using test modes

Leakage Currents

Serial vs. Parallel Leakage Testing

 Serial

is one pin at a time

Test time intensive Less possibility of errors

 Leakage currents

can flow from pin to pin

Alternating odd and even pin parallel test is recommended

 Again,

analog parallel per-pin measurement is not available in some testers

Single voltage source and current meter can be used one pin at a time

 Again,

digital per-pin measurement is available, but may introduce noise into sensitive analog circuit

Power Supply Currents

Importance of Supply Current Tests

 Fast

method for determining catastrophic failure

Large current draw from power supplies Tests are run early in test protocol to weed out defective chips without wasting valuable test time

 Customer

specific application characteristic

Battery operated instruments like a cellular phone require minimal current draw by electronics

Power Supply Currents

Test Techniques
 Basic

test is simple

Testers have the ability to measure current draw from power supplies (Idd and Icc)

 Actual

test is never basic

Test conditions must be clearly identified in test plan power up mode, standby mode, normal operational mode digital supply (Iddd and Iccd) and analog supply (Idda and Icca) measured separately Worst case requires complete characterization

Test Techniques - cont.

Multiple power supply pins designers may need to know the current flow into each pin Settling time 5 to 10 milliseconds in active mode hundreds of milliseconds to stabilize to within 1mA

DC References and Regulators

Voltage Regulators
 High

voltage input - regulated lower voltage output

Output voltage simple voltmeter reading Output voltage regulation ability of regulator to maintain specific output under load Dropout voltage minimum input voltage before output drops below specified level Input regulation ability of regulator to maintain steady output with a range of input voltages

DC References and Regulators

Voltage References
 Low

power voltage regulators

Not always accessible from external pin test engineer may need to request test modes to test references May not have a separate specification in the data sheet DC reference test modes allow the program to trim the DC references for more precise device operation

DC References and Regulators

Trimmable References
 Allows

quality of product to be enhanced during testing through fuses internal to the device
The only aspect of testing that adds value to the device

 Fuses,

Zener diodes or EEPROM register bits

Fuses and Zener diodes are blown by forcing a controlled current through them fuses blow to an open circuit diodes blow to a short circuit

 Laser

trimming - (only possible on wafer)

On-Chip resistor are trimmed to increase resistance Also used to trim gain and offset of analog circuits

 Trimming

is sometimes performed after packaging to account for packaging effects

Impedance Testing

Input Impedance
 Very

common specification for analog inputs

Force two voltages - measure differences in current single voltage / current is not sufficient to eliminate bias current and unknown termination voltages data sheet will list the appropriate range for voltage Input impedance is equal to change in voltage divided by the change in current Alternative method: force two controlled currents and measure the voltages used in cases where low input impedance would cause excessive current flow into the device data sheet will list the appropriate ranges of current

Impedance Testing

Output Impedance
 Typically

much lower than input impedance

Measured with a force current measure voltage method

Differential Impedance Measurements

 Force

two differential voltages and measure the differential current change

DC Offset Measurements

Output Offset Voltage

 The

difference between the devices ideal output voltage and its actual output voltage  Basic test is fairly simple  Difficulties

AC components or noise riding on the DC signal Requires filtering analog low pass filter digital averaging which functions like a low pass filter ATE parasitic capacitance causes some op amps to oscillate may need a buffer amplifier

DC Offset Measurements

Input Offset Voltage

 Output

offset voltage referenced back to its input

Input offset voltage divided by the gain of the circuit definition assumes that the offset is all attributed to the input, when in reality, the offset could be caused by internal factors as well

Single Ended, Differential, and Common Mode Offsets

Single ended offsets are measured relative to ideal voltage Differential offset is the difference between two outputs of a differential circuit. Common mode offset is the average voltage level at two outputs of a differential circuit compared to an ideal common mode voltage

DC Gain Measurements

Closed Loop Gain

 Single

input

Change in output divided by the change in input Use a voltmeter to measure output input should be stable to within 1mV may need testers high accuracy voltmeter to measure the values Change in differential output divided by change in differential input DC offsets at the input are cancelled out Use a differential voltmeter

 Differential input

DC Gain Measurements

Open Loop Gain

 Defined as

the amplifier gain with no feedback path from the output to the input.
Difficult to test since op amp gains can be very high measured using a second op amp in the feedback path nulling amplifier can also be used to measure the input offset voltage

DC Power Supply Rejection Ratio

DC Power Supply Sensitivity (PSS)

 Measure

of the ability of a circuit to maintain a steady output voltage while the power supply voltage changes slightly

DC Power Supply Rejection Ratio

DC Power Supply Rejection Ratio (PSRR)

 PSS

of the circuit divided by the gain of the circuit in its normal mode of operation = 20 log PSS/|G|

 PSRR|db

DC Common Mode Rejection Ratio

CMRR of Op Amps
A

differential circuits ability to reject a common mode signal at its inputs

 There

are two circuits used to measure CMRR

Resistor matching is a major source of error.

CM

(Input __ Offset _ Voltage (input offset _ voltage RR ! (common _ Mode _ voltage (Common _mod e _ input _Input _ Voltage

Op amp CMRR Test Setup

CMRR Test Setup using Nulling Amplifier

DC Common Mode Rejection Ratio

CMRR of Differential Gain Stages Circuits that use op amps to perform a function

The CMRR of the op amp is not as critical as the CMRR of the circuit. Resistor matching is critical in these circuits

(Vout (Vin RR ! Gain

 Difference between chip

CMRR and circuit CMRR?

Chip CMRR - the resistors are on the DIB. Circuit CMRR - the resistors are on the DUT.

CMRR of Differential Gain Stages

Comparator DC Tests

Input Offset Voltage

 Differential input

voltage the causes a comparator to switch from one output state to the other.
Differential input voltage is ramped from one voltage to another to find the point at which the comparator changes state.

Comparator DC Tests

Threshold Voltage
 Slicer

circuit

Fixed reference voltage supplied to one input of a comparator The input offset voltage is replaced by the single-ended specification, threshold voltage

Comparator DC Tests

Hysteresis
 The

difference in threshold voltage between a rising input test condition and a falling input condition
May or may not be a design feature

 Input

offset voltage and hysteresis may change with different common mode input voltages

Voltage Search Techniques

Binary Searches vs. Step Searches

 Ramping

input voltages until an output condition is met is called a ramp or step search.
Very time consuming, not well suited for production testing.

 Binary

searches use successive approximation algorithms

If you are looking for a transition between 1.45V and 1.55V, the comparator input is set to 1.5V and the output is observed. If the output is high, then the input is increased by one quarter of the 100 mV search range (25mV) to try to make the output go low. Once the output goes low, the input is adjusted by one eighth of the search range (12.5mV) and the process is repeated until the desired resolution is attained. Does not work well in the presence of hysteresis.

Voltage Search Techniques

Linear Searches
 Very

fast  Using two input values, two output values can be measured.

Using the linear equation: y = m * x + b, the zero crossing values can be calculated.

 Iterative linear

searches are used to achieve the desired accuracy.

DC Tests for Digital Circuits

IIH / IIL
 Mentioned earlier

under leakage currents

Data sheets list several specification for digital inputs and outputs Digital I/O lines can also have input leakage specifications when they are set in a high impedance (HIZ) mode.

VIH / VIL (input high voltage and low voltage)

 Threshold voltage for

digital inputs

Tested using a binary or step search Force levels as a go-nogo test to identify VIH / VIL threshold failures, rerunning the go-nogo test at a looser test limit will reveal the failure.

DC Tests for Digital Circuits

VOH / VOL
 VOH

is the minimum output voltage in the high

state  VOL is the maximum output voltage in the low state

Usually a verified value not a measured value Tested using a go-nogo test

IOH / IOL
 VOH

and VOL are guaranteed with specified load currents (IOH and IOL)
When output is high, the tester must pull current out of the DUT. When the output is low, the tester must force current into the DUT.

DC Tests for Digital Circuits

IOSH and IOSL Short Circuit Current

 Digital

outputs often have output short circuit protection

If the output is shorted directly to ground or to power, the amount of current flowing into or out of the pin is limited to IOSH and IOSL

Summary

DC tests are very easy to define and understand Actual testing is usually much more difficult than it looks.
A

DC offset of 100mV is easy to measure with an accuracy of +/- 10mV - very difficult to measure with an accuracy of 1uV.  Accuracy and repeatability are often the most time consuming problems faced by an analog test engineer.