Circuit for monitoring metal degradation on integrated circuit
An integrated circuit (IC) having a heat-generating element, such as a power MOSFET, a current-carrying conductor coupled to the heat-generating element, a sense conductor adjacent the current-carrying conductor, and a failure-detection circuit coupled to the sense conductor. When thermal cycling of the IC causes the resistance of the sense conductor to become greater than a temperature-dependent threshold value, the failure-detection circuit generates a signal indicating that the integrated circuit will soon fail. The resistance of the sense conductor is determined by injecting a current into the sense conductor to generate a voltage. The temperature-dependent threshold value is a voltage generated by injecting a current into a reference conductor disposed away from the current-carrying and sense conductors. A voltage comparator compares the two voltages to generate the output. Alternatively, the failure-detection circuit includes a processor that calculates the temperature-dependent threshold value from a temperature measurement taken on the integrated circuit.
NXP USA, INC.
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John M. Chuanzheng Qilin Zhichen Michael J.
Pigott Wang Zhang Zhang Zunino