Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is one of the most important imaging techniques used in semiconductor failure analysis. While optical microscopes remain extremely useful for initial inspection, many semiconductor defects are simply too small to characterize adequately with visible-light microscopy. SEM uses a focused beam of electrons rather than light, allowing engineers ...
Many semiconductor failure-analysis techniques require direct access to structures that are hidden inside an IC package. The semiconductor die, bond pads, bond wires and other critical components may be completely covered by epoxy molding compound or other packaging materials. Before these structures can be examined using techniques such as optical microscopy, emission ...
Dr. Morris Chang is not my hero. He might be the most important person in the semiconductor industry in our lifetime, but he is not my hero. I have nothing against him. I’ve never met him and probably will never will. Instead, I meet my heroes usually after tape-out, when ...
Many important semiconductor package defects are completely hidden from optical inspection. A solder ball can contain a void. A bond wire can be broken inside an encapsulated package. A die-attach layer may contain large areas of voiding. A package substrate can contain an open trace, and an advanced package may have ...
When a semiconductor device fails, the visible damage is not necessarily the root cause. A damaged metal line, cracked package, leaking transistor or burned bond wire may be the final result of a sequence of events rather than the original problem. The purpose of the semiconductor failure analysis process is therefore to ...
What is a Circuit Edit?
A circuit edit is when you need to modify an existing ASIC or integrated circuit for whatever reason. This is usually done with the help of an ion beam that is focused onto the chip to modify it as per the request of the designer. Engineers ...
Introduction to Semiconductor
Semiconductors have a small energy gap between the conduction and valance bands, and their conductivity is between insulators and conductors. At absolute zero temperature, semiconductor materials are pure insulators and gradually increase with temperature. Temperature and doping are the two mechanisms to manage the conductivity of semiconductors. Doping ...
Finding the right semiconductor failure analysis lab often depends less on the laboratory's name and more on whether it has the equipment and technical expertise required for your specific failure. A package delamination problem may require Scanning Acoustic Microscopy. A suspected interconnect defect may require FIB cross-sectioning and SEM inspection. Leakage ...
Palo Alto, CA - 25 March 2025. Sarcina Technology, a global semiconductor packaging specialist, is excited to announce the launch of its innovative AI platform to enable advanced AI packaging solutions that can be tailored to meet specific customer requirements. Leveraging ASE’s FOCoS-CL (Fan-Out Chip-on-Substrate-Chip Last) assembly technology, this platform ...
Emission Microscopy (EMMI) is an optical fault-localization technique used in semiconductor failure analysis to identify electrically active defects inside integrated circuits. Instead of physically opening individual circuit structures and searching for damage, emission microscopy detects extremely weak light generated while a semiconductor device is electrically operating or biased.
Abnormal photon emission ...
