Process control monitoring

In the application of integrated circuits, process control monitoring (PCM)^[1] is the procedure followed to obtain detailed information about the process used.

PCM is associated with designing and fabricating special structures that can monitor technology specific parameters such as V_th in CMOS and V_be in bipolars. These structures are placed across the wafer at specific locations along with the chip produced so that a closer look into the process variation is possible.