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Electronic packaging
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Journal Articles
Silicon Photonic Failure Analysis Using Near Infrared Microscopy
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EDFA Technical Articles (2025) 27 (2): 4–7.
Published: 01 May 2025
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View articletitled, Silicon Photonic Failure Analysis Using Near Infrared Microscopy
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This article discusses the application of near infrared (IR) microscopy in silicon photonic failure analysis. It explains how this technique helps isolate unexpected light losses in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). The paper outlines the experimental setup for IR microscopy and presents three case studies demonstrating its effectiveness: detecting packaging failures through comparative analysis with known good samples; identifying in-operation failures, particularly permanent damage in silicon-based spot size converters due to two-photon absorption at high power levels; and locating yield detractors in optical paths.
Journal Articles
Assessing Compatibility of Advanced IC Packages to X-ray Based Physical Inspection
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EDFA Technical Articles (2024) 26 (3): 14–24.
Published: 01 August 2024
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View articletitled, Assessing Compatibility of Advanced IC Packages to X-ray Based Physical Inspection
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for article titled, Assessing Compatibility of Advanced IC Packages to X-ray Based Physical Inspection
This article describes a proposed novel metric to furnish chip designers with a prognostic tool for x-ray imaging in the pre-silicon stage. This metric is fashioned to provide designers with a concrete measure of how visible the fine-pitched features of their designs are under x-ray inspection. It utilizes a combination of x-ray image data collection, analysis, and simulations to evaluate different design elements.
Journal Articles
The EDFAS FA Technology Roadmap—FA Future Roadmap
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EDFA Technical Articles (2023) 25 (2): 44–46.
Published: 01 May 2023
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View articletitled, The EDFAS FA Technology Roadmap—FA Future Roadmap
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This column is part of a series of reports on the findings to date of the EDFAS Failure Analysis Roadmap Councils. The Failure Analysis Future Roadmap Council (FAFRC) is concerned with identifying the longer term needs of the FA community. This article discusses analysis challenges associated with the growing number of elements being incorporated into integrated circuit fabrication. It includes tables summarizing top challenges in front end and package analysis.
Journal Articles
Package Innovation Roadmap Council (PIRC) Technical Summary
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EDFA Technical Articles (2023) 25 (1): 54–55.
Published: 01 February 2023
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View articletitled, Package Innovation Roadmap Council (PIRC) Technical Summary
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The Package Innovation Roadmap Council (PIRC) was established as part of the Failure Analysis Technology Roadmap activity at the direction of the EDFAS Board. This column provides an overview of a technical paper by the PIRC that highlights recent innovations, technology gaps, and future development trends in package fault isolation and failure analysis. The paper focuses on three main categories: 1) Artificial intelligence (AI) applications, 2) Sample handling, and 3) FA tool robustness.
Journal Articles
Processes for Thinning and Polishing Highly Warped Die to a Nearly Consistent Thickness: Part I
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EDFA Technical Articles (2022) 24 (4): 34–38.
Published: 01 November 2022
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View articletitled, Processes for Thinning and Polishing Highly Warped Die to a Nearly Consistent Thickness: Part I
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This article, the first in a multi-part series, describes how to finely control remaining silicon thickness (RST) through the correction of mechanical surface profiles using multipoint thickness measurements. It explains why multipoint thickness measurements are necessary and discusses the realities of silicon thickness measurements. With careful processing, cleaning, and RST measurements, samples can be reliably processed to a 50 μm thickness with a variation of +/- 2.5 μm across the majority of the die.
Journal Articles
Physical Security Roadmap for Heterogeneous Integration Technology
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EDFA Technical Articles (2022) 24 (2): 24–32.
Published: 01 May 2022
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View articletitled, Physical Security Roadmap for Heterogeneous Integration Technology
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Interposers play an important role in 2.5D and 3D packages, routing power and communication signals between dies while maintaining electrical contact with I/O pins. This role and their relatively simple construction makes interposers a target for malicious attacks. In this article, the authors assess the vulnerabilities inherent in the fabrication of interposers and describe various types of optical attacks along with practical countermeasures.
Journal Articles
Chiplets: A New Era in Advanced Packaging Emerges
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EDFA Technical Articles (2021) 23 (4): 2–37.
Published: 01 November 2021
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View articletitled, Chiplets: A New Era in Advanced Packaging Emerges
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This editorial discusses the emergence of chiplets and its potential impact on IC design, fabrication, and failure analysis.
Journal Articles
Methods to Enable Fault Isolation on 2.5D Molded Interposer Packages
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EDFA Technical Articles (2021) 23 (4): 14–17.
Published: 01 November 2021
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View articletitled, Methods to Enable Fault Isolation on 2.5D Molded Interposer Packages
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for article titled, Methods to Enable Fault Isolation on 2.5D Molded Interposer Packages
This article discusses the failure analysis challenges associated with large overmolded 2.5D packages and explains how laser decapsulation followed by microwave-induced plasma (MIP) spot etching removes overmold while keeping everything else intact. It also describes a defect isolation procedure in which the sample is analyzed in a large chamber environmental SEM with its ball grid array directly wired to an EBAC amplifier.
Journal Articles
Security Assessment of IC Packaging Against Optical Attacks
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EDFA Technical Articles (2021) 23 (2): 4–12.
Published: 01 May 2021
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View articletitled, Security Assessment of IC Packaging Against Optical Attacks
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The inverted orientation of a flip-chip packaged die makes it vulnerable to optical attacks from the backside. This article discusses the nature of that vulnerability, assesses the threats posed by optical inspection tools and techniques, and provides insights on effective countermeasures.
Journal Articles
Enabling True Root Cause Failure Analysis Using an Atmospheric Oxygen-Only Plasma for Decapsulation of Advanced Packages
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EDFA Technical Articles (2021) 23 (1): 4–10.
Published: 01 February 2021
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View articletitled, Enabling True Root Cause Failure Analysis Using an Atmospheric Oxygen-Only Plasma for Decapsulation of Advanced Packages
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for article titled, Enabling True Root Cause Failure Analysis Using an Atmospheric Oxygen-Only Plasma for Decapsulation of Advanced Packages
Several failure analysis case studies have been conducted over the past few years, illustrating the importance of preserving root-cause evidence by means of artifact-free decapsulation. The findings from three of those studies are presented in this article. In one case, the root cause of failure is chlorine contamination. In another, it is a combination of corrosion and metal migration. The third case involves an EOS failure, the evidence of which was hidden under a layer of carbonized mold compound. In addition to case studies, the article also includes images that compare the results of different decapsulation methods.
Journal Articles
Defect Characterization of Advanced Packages using Novel Phase and Dark Field X-Ray Imaging
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EDFA Technical Articles (2020) 22 (3): 18–25.
Published: 01 August 2020
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View articletitled, Defect Characterization of Advanced Packages using Novel Phase and Dark Field X-Ray Imaging
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for article titled, Defect Characterization of Advanced Packages using Novel Phase and Dark Field X-Ray Imaging
Modified Talbot X-ray interferometry provides three contrast modes simultaneously: absorption, phase, and dark field/scattering. This article describes the powerful new imaging technique and shows how it is used to characterize various types of defects in advanced semiconductor packages.
Journal Articles
Improved Signal Detection Sensitivity for High Resolution Imaging in Scanning Acoustic Tomography
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EDFA Technical Articles (2020) 22 (3): 28–35.
Published: 01 August 2020
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View articletitled, Improved Signal Detection Sensitivity for High Resolution Imaging in Scanning Acoustic Tomography
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for article titled, Improved Signal Detection Sensitivity for High Resolution Imaging in Scanning Acoustic Tomography
Scanning acoustic tomography (SAT) is widely used to detect defects such as voids and delamination in electronic devices. In this article, the authors explain how they improved the spatial resolution and detection sensitivity of SAT by switching from a conventional piezoelectric probe to a capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) and by using pulse compression signal processing. They also present examples showing how the improvement makes it possible to detect very small defects in multilayer stacks and BGA packages whether in through-transmission or reflection imaging mode.
Journal Articles
Innovative Puck Design for the Mechanical Cross-Sectioning and Subsequent Analysis of Semiconductor Packaged Samples in Failure Analysis
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EDFA Technical Articles (2020) 22 (2): 4–12.
Published: 01 May 2020
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View articletitled, Innovative Puck Design for the Mechanical Cross-Sectioning and Subsequent Analysis of Semiconductor Packaged Samples in Failure Analysis
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for article titled, Innovative Puck Design for the Mechanical Cross-Sectioning and Subsequent Analysis of Semiconductor Packaged Samples in Failure Analysis
The causes of failure in flip-chip packaged devices are often found at the interface between the die and package. Exposing the site of interest usually entails some form of mechanical cross-sectioning with the sample embedded in an epoxy puck. This article brings attention to some of the drawbacks with the current approach and presents a solution in the form of a redesigned puck. As test results show, the new puck significantly reduces polishing time, and when cast with a conductive epoxy, minimizes charging artifacts and image distortion during SEM analysis. It also facilitates easy sample removal for subsequent analysis.
Journal Articles
3D Hot-Spot Localization by Lock-In Thermography
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EDFA Technical Articles (2020) 22 (2): 29–35.
Published: 01 May 2020
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View articletitled, 3D Hot-Spot Localization by Lock-In Thermography
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This article describes a form of lock-in thermography that achieves 3D localization of thermally active defects in stacked die packages. In this approach, phase shifts associated with thermal propagation delay are analyzed as a function of frequency. This allows for a precise localization of defects in all three spatial dimensions and can serve as a guide for subsequent high-resolution physical analyses.
Journal Articles
Mechanical Milling and Polishing of Cross Sections using a Micro CNC Machine for Failure Analysis
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EDFA Technical Articles (2020) 22 (1): 14–19.
Published: 01 February 2020
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View articletitled, Mechanical Milling and Polishing of Cross Sections using a Micro CNC Machine for Failure Analysis
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for article titled, Mechanical Milling and Polishing of Cross Sections using a Micro CNC Machine for Failure Analysis
In this article, the authors evaluate micro CNC milling as an alternative to manual parallel lapping for mechanical cross-sectioning of flip-chip packaged samples. They describe both processes, and how they compare to other cross-sectioning techniques, and clearly illustrate the differences. SEM images of a manually polished sample show process-induced cracking, chipping, and delamination at the die-C4 interface. In contrast, the CNC-milled sample is artifact-free and the C4 bumps are uniformly exposed along the entire length of the cross-section.
Journal Articles
ESD Challenges on RFID Devices
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EDFA Technical Articles (2019) 21 (4): 14–20.
Published: 01 November 2019
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View articletitled, ESD Challenges on RFID Devices
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Using the example of smart card radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, this article examines electrostatic discharge risk scenarios encountered during assembly and in the field, and outlines basic countermeasures.
Journal Articles
Advanced Packaging Fault Isolation Case Studies and Advancement of EOTPR
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EDFA Technical Articles (2018) 20 (4): 24–29.
Published: 01 November 2018
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View articletitled, Advanced Packaging Fault Isolation Case Studies and Advancement of EOTPR
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Electro optical terahertz pulse reflectometry (EOTPR) is a nondestructive fault isolation technique that is well suited for today’s ICs. This article provides examples of how EOTPR is being used to investigate 2.5D and 3D packages, wafer level fanout packages, and MEMS devices. It also discusses recent advancements in EOTPR systems and software.
Journal Articles
Microstructure and Reliability of Tin-Silver Micro-Copper Pillar Assemblies
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EDFA Technical Articles (2018) 20 (1): 20–31.
Published: 01 February 2018
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View articletitled, Microstructure and Reliability of Tin-Silver Micro-Copper Pillar Assemblies
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IBM engineers recently conducted a study to better understand and control the reliability of copper pillar solder joints in 2.5-D packages. Here they describe their approach and the results they obtained. They explain how they created test samples to evaluate different solder compositions, pillar geometries, and thermal histories and assess their effect on microstructure, precipitate morphology, intermetallic layer thickness, and shear strength. They also present thermal cycling test results comparing the performance of silicon and glass interposers.
Journal Articles
Failure Analysis on Soldered Ball Grid Arrays: Part II
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EDFA Technical Articles (2017) 19 (2): 4–9.
Published: 01 May 2017
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View articletitled, Failure Analysis on Soldered Ball Grid Arrays: Part II
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This is the second article in a two-part series investigating solder connection failures associated with BGA packages. Part I, in the February 2017 issue of EDFA, examines various cases of open and short circuit failures, discusses the formation of voids, and explains how to reveal important clues by grinding away the BGA package. Part II continues the analysis of voids and focuses in on failures due to circuit board faults. In such cases, the board is ground away from the backside, stopping just short of the first inner copper layer. The alignment of the two uppermost copper layers, the integrity of microvias, and other potential problems are then examined using polarized light which readily passes through the remaining resin and fibers. As the examples in the article show, this approach can reveal a wide range of manufacturing defects in PCBs.
Journal Articles
Failure Analysis on Soldered Ball Grid Arrays: Part I
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EDFA Technical Articles (2017) 19 (1): 4–8.
Published: 01 February 2017
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View articletitled, Failure Analysis on Soldered Ball Grid Arrays: Part I
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This article is the first in a two-part series analyzing solder connection failures between BGA packages and PCB assemblies. Part I examines failures attributed to oxygen intrusion during reflow, underetched solder resist, and solder paste printing problems. In the latter case, X-ray inspection revealed no abnormalities other than a variation in ball size. To get to the root cause, the corpus of the BGA was progressively ground away, leaving only the balls and an unobstructed view of the PCB surface. A description of the process, supported by detailed images, is included in the article. In Part II, scheduled for the May 2017 issue of EDFA, the author delves deeper into the analysis of voids and presents an alternate FA approach that involves grinding away much of the PCB.
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