Patent ID: 8860425

Claim:
A test circuit for detecting a leakage defect in at least a first circuit under test, the test circuit comprising: at least a first test stimulus circuit operative to drive an otherwise defect-free, characteristically capacitive node in the first circuit under test to a prescribed voltage level; and at least a first observation circuit having at least one threshold and adapted for connection with at least one node in the first circuit under test, the observation circuit being operative to detect a voltage level of the at least one node in the first circuit under test and to generate an output signal indicative of whether the voltage level of the at least one node is less than the at least one threshold; wherein the voltage level of the at least one node in the first circuit under test being less than the at least one threshold is indicative of a first type of leakage defect in the first circuit under test, and wherein the voltage level of the at least one node in the first circuit under test being greater than the at least one threshold is indicative of a second type of leakage defect in the first circuit under test.