Performance comparison of VLV, ULV, and ECR tests

It has been shown that Very-Low-Voltage and Minimum-Voltage tests can detect defects that escape tests applied at normal voltages. Energy Consumption Ratio test, a recently developed current-based test, has shown its ability to reduce the impact of process variations and detect various types of defects. These tests may be used as supplements to traditional tests to ensure high quality product. In this paper, Very-Low-Voltage, Ultra-Low-Voltage (a modified version of Minimum-Voltage), and Energy Consumption Ratio tests are applied as supplemental tests along with existing traditional tests to a biomedical IC product. The effectiveness and efficiency of these supplemental tests are evaluated and compared with some major traditional tests. The effectiveness analysis indicates that Ultra-Low-Voltage and Energy Consumption Ratio tests identified potentially defective devices from the good devices. The efficiency analysis shows that Energy Consumption Ratio test is much more efficient than Very-Low-Voltage, Ultra-Low-Voltage, and major traditional tests.