Abstract
Ever since the invention of the scanning acoustic microscope (SAM), a key objective has been the enhancement of the resolution in an interior image. Thus, an acoustic lens that can form an interior image with a shear wave has been designed. The use of this lens gives benefits such as an increase of lateral resolution in the interior image, a reduction in background noise caused by surface roughness, and a reduction of spherical aberration. Significantly, with the current trend towards microminiaturization of microelectronic packages, acoustic microscopy with higher resolution and removal of surface roughness can play an important role in diagnostic examinations and failure analysis. In this paper, applications for the lens in microelectronic IC packages will be summarized.