Probe station for microelectronic systems

• Subject Area: Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
• Term: Funded in 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 459588797

The applicant group deals with microelectronic systems and circuits for highly efficient and compact power supplies, also known as power management. The systems can be fully integrated on a microchip (System-on-Chip) or partially integrated with external, usually passive components in one package (System-in-Package). The input voltages range from a few millivolts (in case of energy harvesting) to a few volts (in case of low voltage batteries) and well over 50V. The trend towards higher voltages follows the need to minimize conversion losses. For this reason, servers in data centers use an intermediate voltage of 48V. Similarly, hybrid and electric cars are equipped with a 48 V battery in addition to the conventional 12 V board net and the 400 V high-voltage battery that supplies the drive train. The applicant group has been conducting research in this area, integrated high-voltage circuits, for many years. The measurement equipment can be distinguished between higher voltages classes (>50V to 200V, in future up to 600V and above (GaN, power modules)) and voltages below 50V including conventional semiconductor technologies for voltages up to 5V. In order to reduce parasitic effects caused by contact resistance, leakage inductance, capacitive coupling, etc., the microchips are often directly mounted on to the printed circuit board and directly bonded. Furthermore, the characterization of whole wafers up to 200mm diameter with a large number of chips is required. All these cases are to be covered by the large-scale equipment, the basis of which is a high-voltage probe station, which is supplemented by a parameter analyzer with high-voltage SMU, CV unit up to 200V, 10MHz and preamplifier for currents <1fA including switching unit for switching between "high voltage" and CV. The equipment includes a two-color laser cutter and a thermal chuck up to 200°C.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Spitzenmessplatz zur Charakterisierung von mikroelektronischen Systemen
• Instrumentation Group: 2780 Spezielle Meß- und Prüfgeräte für Halbleiter und Röhren (außer 620-659)
• Applicant Institution: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernhard Wicht