QUALCOMM Incorporated
Back-end-of-line (BEOL) on-chip sensor

Abstract:

An integrated circuit (IC), including a substrate and back-end-of-line (BEOL) layers on the substrate is described. The IC includes a sensor in a BEOL layer (Mx) of the BEOL layers. The BEOL sensor includes conductive traces and shield traces interdigitated with the conductive traces in the BEOL layer Mx. The BEOL sensor also includes a first ground shield in a BEOL layer Mx-1, and a second ground shield in a BEOL layer Mx+1. The BEOL sensor further includes logic configured to ground/float the shield traces.