KR20040104792A - Method for testing memory cell in semiconductor memory - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for testing the memory cell of a semiconductor memory device is provided to improve the productivity by reducing the test time so as to allow the parallel bit test when the semiconductor memory cell performs a block free repair. CONSTITUTION: The device includes a memory cell array(10), mux(12), and repair fuse box(14). A method for testing the memory cell of a semiconductor memory device includes the steps of: repairing the fail cell of the specific block or the fail cell of another memory block by the spare cell; and performing the parallel bit test by accessing the data through the input/output line by each block of the memory cell array after the failed memory cells are repaired by the spare cells.

Description

METHODE FOR TESTING MEMORY CELL IN SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY}

The present invention relates to a test method of a memory cell of a semiconductor memory device, and in particular, when a defect of a specific block memory cell occurs, a parallel bit test can be performed after repairing a defective cell by using a repair cell inserted into another block. The present invention relates to a memory cell test method.

In general, a semiconductor memory device has a high degree of integration, which is very likely to be a defective memory cell, and even if no defective memory cells exist in an initial test, there is a possibility of a defective memory cell due to repeated data writing / reading. The semiconductor memory device is divided into memory blocks including a plurality of memory cells. In this case, the possibility of failure of the semiconductor memory device may be concentrated in a specific memory block. In order to test the defect of the memory cell in preparation for the occurrence of such defect, input data into the memory cells included in the semiconductor memory device using an external test equipment, and then output the data again to compare the input data with the output data. Detect memory cells. The detected bad memory cells are repaired to redundant memory cells included in the semiconductor memory device. Yield of the semiconductor memory device is greatly affected by the number of redundant memory cells and a method of replacing defective memory cells with redundant memory cells.

Repair methods currently used include a method of replacing fuse memory with redundant memory cells by cutting a fuse with a laser, and a method of replacing defective memory cells with redundant memory cells by cutting or shorting the fuse with an electrical control signal. In the above methods, after the external test equipment tests all the memory cells, the addresses of the defective memory cells are stored in the external test equipment. The fuse corresponding to the redundant memory cells of the semiconductor memory device is cut or shorted and repaired according to an address designating the bad memory cells.

In recent years, as the density of semiconductor memory increases, the number of defective cells increases as the density increases, and the frequency of repairing using the repair cell also increases. However, a semiconductor memory device may include one repair cell in units of one memory cell block, and may include two or more repair cells.

1 illustrates an example in which one repair cell is provided in one memory cell block. As shown in FIG. 1, when a large number of defective cells Fail Cell1 and Fail Cell2 occur in BLOCK0 of a memory cell array, repair cannot be performed using only repair cells provided in advance in BLOCK0. At this time, the fail cell of BLOCK0 should be repaired using a repair cell provided in BLOCK1 of another memory cell, and thus, the defective cell is replaced with a repair cell without being affected by the block of other memory cells. This method is called Block Free Repair. Block Free Repair is different from Self Repair in which the repair is performed within the same block. As shown in FIG. 1, when a bad cell Fail2 of Block0 is accessed, the repair cell of Block1 is accessed instead. To do this, a disable signal is generated from the repair fuse box and applied to Block0, and an enable signal is generated and applied to Block1, which prevents Block0 of the memory cell from being accessed and instead of Block1 of the memory cell. Allow the repair cell to be accessed.

However, parallel bit test (PBT) should be performed to reduce the test time by accessing multiple memory cells Block0 ~ Block3 at the same time, but memory cells Block0 ~ Block3 have been repaired by Block Free Repair method. In this case, the application of parallel bit test (PBT) is difficult. This is because the memory cells Block0 to Block3 prevent access to a block to which a defective cell belongs due to a disable signal from a repair box when there is a cell in which a block free repair method is used. Therefore, after the memory cell is block-free repaired, the block containing the bad memory cell cannot be subjected to the parallel bit test (PBT), and tests must be performed in units of blocks among several memory cell blocks. There was a problem dropping.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve a memory cell test of a semiconductor memory device that can reduce the test time by applying a post-laser parallel bit test after the bad memory cell is repaired as a block-free repair in the semiconductor memory device. In providing a method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a memory cell test method of a semiconductor memory device capable of improving productivity by reducing test time by applying a parallel bit test after block free repair of a defective memory cell.

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, a memory cell test method of a semiconductor memory device provided with a spare cell for repairing a defective cell of any memory block of the memory cell array, the spare cell is a defective cell of a specific block Repairing a defective cell of an or another memory block; Repairing the defective memory cell as a spare cell and performing parallel bit test by accessing data through different input / output lines (I / O) for each block of the memory cell array; and repairing the defective memory cell as a spare cell Before the test for the spare cell is characterized in that it further comprises the step of detecting the presence or absence of the spare cell.

The method may further include determining a bypass result of the parallel bit test as a bypass when the repaired spare cell is tested during the parallel bit test after repairing the defective memory cell as a spare cell.

In the parallel bit test step, if the same data is not read after accessing multiple memory cells simultaneously, the parallel bit test result is determined as a fail.

1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which bad cells of a memory cell array are generated;

2 is a partial configuration diagram of a semiconductor memory device implementing parallel bit test according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process for testing a memory cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: memory cell array 12: MUX section for parallel bit test

14: Repair fuse box 20, 22, 24, 26: MUX for parallel bit test

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 is a block diagram of a semiconductor memory device implementing parallel bit test according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A memory cell array 10 having a plurality of memory cells arranged in a matrix structure consisting of a plurality of row lines and column lines, and partitioned into a plurality of memory blocks each including a plurality of memory cells, and input / output data The memory cell array receives a plurality of input / output lines I / O1 to I / O4, a repair fuse box 14 generating a repair on signal, and a repair on signal generated from the repair fuse box 14. Data read from each memory block of (10) is bypassed to each of the plurality of input / output lines I / O0 to I / O3, or data is applied from the plurality of input / output lines I / O1 to I / O4. Is composed of a MUX section 12 that bypasses the memory blocks of the memory cell array 10 to the respective memory blocks.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a memory cell test according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3 will be described in detail an operation of performing a memory cell test according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The parallel bit test (PBT) detects a defective cell by simultaneously accessing a plurality of memory blocks Block0 to Block3 of the memory cell array 10, as disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0327136. In the present invention, the output of several memory cells selected for each block for parallel bit testing is transferred to the PBT MUXs 20, 22, 24, and 26, and when there is no fail cell, data corresponding to a pass state is inputted and outputted. It is delivered to the lines I / O0 to I / O3, and if there is a fail cell, data corresponding to a fail state is transferred to the input / output lines I / O0 to I / O3, respectively. At this time, if there is a block free repaired cell among the accessed cells, the parallel bit test could not be performed because the memory block containing the defective cell cannot be accessed by the disable signal from the repair fuse box. . However, in the present invention, when a fail cell is accessed, a repair on signal from the repair fuse box 14 is applied to each of the PBT MUXs 20, 22, 24, and 26 to correspond to a bypass (skip) state. The output is bypassed to the input / output lines (I / O0 ~ I / O3) to allow parallel bit testing even for the block pre-repaired memory block.

Referring to the operation of performing a parallel bit test on the block free repaired memory block with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, a parallel bit test of a normal memory cell for each memory block Block 0 to Block 3 of the memory cell array 10 is performed. PBT) to detect a fail cell (step S1).

In addition, a parallel bit test (PBT) of a spare cell for repairing a defective cell for each of the memory blocks Block0 to Block3 of the memory cell array 10 is performed to detect a failed cell (step S2).

Thereafter, the defective cell is repaired by cutting the fuse for the defective cell of the repair fuse box 14 using the defective test information of the normal memory cell and the test information of the spare cell (S3). When a defective cell is detected in Block0 of the array 10, the defective cell of Block0 is replaced with a repair cell of Block1, and a fuse corresponding to the defective cell of Block0 of the repair fuse box 14 is cut.

In this case, the repair fuse box 14 generates a repair on signal to apply the PBT MUXs 20, 22, 24, and 26, respectively. The PBT MUX 20 then bypasses (skips) the data output from Block0 of the memory cell array 10 to the input / output line I / O0, and the PBT MUX 22 of the memory cell array 10 The data output from Block1 is bypassed to the input / output line I / O1, and the PBT MUX 24 bypasses the data output from Block2 of the memory cell array 10 to the input / output line I / O2. The PBT MUX 26 bypasses (skips) the data output from Block3 of the memory cell array 10 to the input / output line I / O3. As a result, a post laser parallel bit test is performed to detect a defect generated in a fuse cutting process or a package process (step S4). If the same data is read after accessing the same data and the same data is read, the parallel bit test result is determined as bypass (skip) .If the same data is not read after the same data is written, the parallel bit test result is judged as Fail. do.

Finally, a parallel bit test (PBT) of the spare cell for repairing the defective cells for each of the memory blocks Block0 to Block3 of the memory cell array 10 is performed to detect the failed cell (S5). step)

As described above, the present invention has an advantage in that when the block free repair of a semiconductor memory cell is performed, parallel bit testing is possible, thereby reducing test time and improving productivity.

Claims (3)

A memory cell test method of a semiconductor memory device comprising a spare cell for repairing a defective cell of an arbitrary memory block of a memory cell array, the method comprising: Repairing, by the spare cell, a bad cell of a specific block or a bad cell of another memory block; And repairing the bad memory cell as a spare cell and performing parallel bit test by accessing data through different input / output lines (I / O) for each block of the memory cell array. Memory cell test method. The method of claim 1, And testing the spare cell before detecting the defective memory cell as a spare cell, and detecting whether the spare cell is defective. The method of claim 1, And after the repair of the defective memory cell as a spare cell, determining the parallel bit test result as a bypass (skip) when the repaired spare cell is tested. Test method.