Device for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of an integrated circuit chip

1. A device for detecting a thinning down of a substrate of an integrated circuit chip, comprising, in an active area of the substrate, bar-shaped diffused resistors connected as a Wheatstone bridge, wherein:

first opposite resistors of the bridge are oriented along a first direction;

second opposite resistors of the bridge are oriented along a second direction; and

said first and second directions are such that the thinning down of the substrate causes a variation of an imbalance value of the bridge, wherein the second opposite resistors vary in response to thinning of the substrate and the first opposite resistors are substantially unchanged in response to the thinning of the substrate and wherein an imbalance in the bridge is indicative of the thinning of the substrate.

2. The device for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of the integrated circuit chip of claim 1 , wherein main surfaces of the substrate are in plane [001] of a crystal structure of the substrate.

3. The device for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of the integrated circuit chip of claim 2 , wherein:

said diffused resistors are formed in a substrate region of a first conductivity type; and

said first and second directions respectively correspond to directions (100) and (110) of the crystal structure of the substrate.

4. The device for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of an integrated circuit chip of claim 2 , wherein:

said first opposite resistors are formed in a substrate region of a first conductivity type;

said second opposite resistors are formed in a substrate region of the second conductivity type; and

said first and second directions respectively correspond to directions (100) and (010) of the crystal structure of the substrate.

5. The device for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of an integrated circuit chip of claim 2 , wherein:

said first opposite resistors are formed in a substrate region of a first conductivity type;

said second opposite resistors are formed in a substrate region of the second conductivity type; and

said first and second directions are parallel to direction (110) of the crystal structure of the substrate.

6. A device for detecting a thinning down of a substrate of an integrated circuit chip, comprising, in an active area of the substrate, bar-shaped diffused resistors connected as a Wheatstone bridge, wherein:

first opposite resistors of the bridge are oriented along a first direction;

second opposite resistors of the bridge are oriented along a second direction; and

said first and second directions are such that the thinning down of the substrate causes a variation of an imbalance value of the bridge, wherein main surfaces of the substrate are in plane [001] of a crystal structure of the substrate, and wherein:

said diffused resistors are formed in a P-type doped substrate region;

said first and second directions respectively correspond to directions (100) and (110) of the crystal structure of the substrate; and

said second opposite resistors are each surrounded with an insulating region covered with a polysilicon layer, the entire resistor being covered with a protection nitride layer.

7. The device for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of an integrated circuit chip of claim 2 , wherein:

said diffused resistors are formed in a N-type doped substrate region;

said first and second directions respectively correspond to directions (100) and (110) of the crystal structure of the substrate; and

said first opposite resistors are each surrounded with an insulating region covered with a polysilicon layer, the entire resistor being covered with a protection nitride layer.

8. A circuit for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of the integrated circuit chip comprising:

at least one device for detecting the thinning down of the substrate according to claim 1 ;

means for measuring the imbalance of said at least one device.

9. The circuit for detecting the thinning down of the substrate of the integrated circuit chip of claim 8 , wherein at least one comparator compares the imbalance value of said at least one device with a threshold, the output state of the detection circuit being based on the output value of said at least one comparator.

10. A semiconductor device comprising:

a substrate; and

a bridge circuit formed in the substrate, the bridge circuit comprising a first resistor connected between a voltage and a first node, a second resistor connected between the first node and ground, a third resistor connected between the voltage and a second node, and a fourth resistor connected between the second node and ground, wherein the first and fourth resistors vary in response to thinning of the substrate and the second and third resistors are substantially unchanged in response to the thinning of the substrate and wherein an imbalance in the bridge is indicative of thinning of the substrate.

11. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 10 , wherein the first and fourth resistors are oriented along a first crystal direction of the substrate and the second and third resistors are oriented along a second crystal direction of the substrate.

12. A semiconductor device as defined in claim 10 , wherein the first and fourth resistors are formed in a substrate region of a first conductivity type and the second and third resistors are formed in a substrate region of a second conductivity type.

13. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 10 , wherein the first and fourth resistors are covered by polysilicon and nitride layers.

14. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 10 , wherein the first, second, third and fourth resistors are bar-shaped diffused resistors.

15. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 14 , wherein the first, second, third and fourth resistors each include a doped area and an oxide region at a periphery of the doped area.

16. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 15 , wherein the first, second, third and fourth resistors each further include a polysilicon layer on a surface of the oxide region and a nitride layer over at least a portion of each resistor.

17. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 10 , wherein the bridge circuit is sensitive to stress variations caused by thinning of the substrate.

18. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 10 , wherein the substrate comprises a single crystal silicon substrate having a main surface in a crystal plane [001].

19. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 18 , wherein the first and fourth resistors are formed in a substrate region of a first conductivity type and are oriented along a crystal direction (110) of the substrate, and wherein the second and third resistors are formed in a substrate region of the first conductivity type and are oriented along a crystal direction (100) of the substrate.

20. A semiconductor device as defined in claim 18 , wherein the first and fourth resistors are formed in a substrate region of a first conductivity type and are oriented along a crystal direction (100) of the substrate, and wherein the second and third resistors are formed in a substrate region of a second conductivity type and are oriented along a crystal direction (010) of the substrate.

21. A semiconductor device as defined in claim 18 , wherein the first and fourth resistors are formed in a substrate region of a first conductivity type and are oriented along a crystal direction (010) of the substrate, and wherein the second and third resistors are formed in a substrate region of a second conductivity type and are oriented along the crystal direction (010) of the substrate.

22. The semiconductor device as defined in claim 19 , wherein the first and fourth resistors are diffused resistors covered by polysilicon and nitride layers.