Automated Wafer-Level Characterisation of Electrochemical Test Structures for Wafer Scanning

This paper presents an automated system for the electrochemical characterization of micro-scale test structures at the wafer level, with the objective to identify good devices suitable for full characterization and packaging. The integration of the onwafer characterization enables an initial quality assessment of the devices prior to packaging and thus minimizes the packaging of faulty sensors. The prototype system integrates the essential elements for automated on-wafer in-line electrochemical systems characterization, thereby confirming the suitability of this approach for implementation on commercial automated probers, which are generally available for parametric testing. The system’s capabilities are demonstrated for a standard three-electrode cell design typically employed in electrochemical sensing applications. Finally, the system’s potential is established by wafer mapping the performance of electrochemical microelectrode devices through integration with a semi-automatic probe station.