Patent ID: 8877525

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having an identifiable indicium, the semiconductor device comprising a microprocessor and a memory array having a plurality of contacts, the method comprising: designing a nominal layout of the contacts of the memory array; designing a nominal photo lithography mask for producing the nominal layout of the contacts of the memory array; selecting a plurality of the contacts of the designed memory array for production as defective contacts; producing the photo lithography mask based upon: (a) the designed nominal photo lithography mask; and (b) the selected contacts to be produced as defective contacts; manufacturing the semiconductor device including the microprocessor and the memory array using the produced photo lithography mask, wherein the manufactured memory array includes a plurality of actually defective contacts; and scanning the memory array by the microprocessor to identify the plurality of actually defective contacts, the scanned plurality of actually defective contacts comprising the identifiable indicium.