Noncontact Internal Waveform Measurements with Picosecond Time Resolution on a 0.5-/xm CMOS SRAM

Abstract

This paper presents waveform measurements at the internal nodes of a 0.5-μm CMOS SRAM, performed at room temperature and at low temperature (80 K). These measurements yield detailed information on the internal operation of the circuit, and, more precisely, on the delays whose sum constitutes the access time in this highspeed memory circuit. The waveforms are measured in a noncontact, nonintrusive fashion with a newly developed ultrafast electron beam prober, the Picosecond Photoelectron Scanning Electron Microscope (PPSEM). © 1988 IEEE.