Abstract
This article introduces several analytical chemistry techniques that are extremely useful in the electronics failure analysis (FA) laboratory, but are not normally found in FA laboratories. It presents the techniques in simple language and makes a case for the inclusion of chemists in the rapidly evolving and ever-shrinking world of microelectronic failure analysis. The article discusses the following techniques in terms of their applications, advantages, and operating principles: gel permeation chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). As we move into the world of nanotechnology, these techniques will become key in analyzing failures that cannot be visualized using traditional FA methods.
