Over the revolutionary era of semiconductor technology, Computer-Aided Design Navigation (CADNav) tools have played an increasingly critical role in silicon debug and failure analysis (FA) in efforts to improve manufacturing yield while reducing time-to-market for integrated circuit (IC) products. This article encompasses the key principles of CADNav for various aspects of semiconductor FA and its importance for improved yield and profitability. An overview of the required input data and formats are described for both IC and package devices, along with key considerations and best practices recommended for fast fault localization, accurate root cause analysis, FA equipment utilization, efficient cross-team collaboration, and database management. Challenges with an FA lab ecosystem are addressed by providing an integrated database and software platform that enable design layout and schematic analysis in the FA lab for quick and accurate navigation and cross-tool collaboration.

This chapter summarizes critical gaps and long-term needs in failure analysis technology as it relates to logic and memory devices and IC packages. It assesses the impact of vertical integration, new materials, and expansion in the third dimension on volume analysis, sample preparation and measurement methods, and cross-sectioning and imaging.

Circuit edit has been instrumental to the development of focused ion beam (FIB) systems. FIB tools for advanced circuit edit play a major role in the validation of design and manufacture. This chapter begins with an overview of value, role, and unique capabilities of FIB circuit edit tools for first silicon debug. The etching capabilities of circuit edit FIB tools are then discussed, providing information on chemistry assisted etching in silicon oxides and low-k dielectrics. The chapter also discusses the requirements and procedures involved in edit operation: high aspect ratio milling, endpointing, and cutting copper. It then provides an introduction to FIB metal/conductor deposition and FIB dielectric deposition. Edit design rules that can facilitate prototype production from first silicon are also provided. The chapter concludes with a discussion on future trends in circuit edit technology.

This chapter describes some common pitfalls encountered in failure investigations and provides guidance to help engineers recognize processes and “quick fixes” that companies often try to substitute for failure analysis. It discusses three important skills and characteristics that a professional engineer must improve to conduct an effective and successful failure investigation, namely technical skills, communication skills, and technical integrity. The chapter also provides information on the additional basic tools available for failure investigation and root cause determination: the Kepner-Tregoe structured problem-solving method, PROACT software for root cause analysis developed by the Reliability Center, Inc., and other processes and methods developed by the Failsafe Network, Inc., and Shainin LLC.

This chapter assesses the potential impact of neural networks on package-level failure analysis, the challenges presented by next-generation semiconductor packages, and the measures that can be taken to maximize FA equipment uptime and throughput. It presents examples showing how neural networks have been trained to detect and classify PCB defects, improve signal-to-noise ratios in SEM images, recognize wafer failure patterns, and predict failure modes. It explains how new packaging strategies, particularly stacking and disintegration, complicate fault isolation and evaluates the ability of various imaging methods to locate defects in die stacks. It also presents best practices for sample preparation, inspection, and navigation and offers suggestions for improving the reliability and service life of tools.

Recent trends in electronic packaging, including the growing use of 3D designs and heterogeneous integration, are greatly adding to the complexity of isolating faults in semiconductor products. This chapter reviews the latest IC packaging and integration solutions and assesses the readiness level of fault isolation tools and techniques. It examines the capabilities, limitations, and optimization potential of x-ray tomography and magnetic field imaging, describes various approaches for optical fault isolation, and compares and contrasts pre-OFI sample preparation methods. The chapter also explains how time-domain and electro-optical terahertz pulse reflectometry are used to find shorts and opens in ICs and how challenges related to heterogenous integration may be met through design for testability (DFT) and built-in self-test (BIST) accommodations and the use of passive interposers.

This chapter assesses the capabilities and limitations of electric fault isolation (EFI) technology, the measurement challenges associated with new device architectures, and the pathways for improvement in emission microscopy, laser stimulation, and optical probing. It also assesses the factors that influence signal strength, spatial and timing resolution, and alignment accuracy between signal response images and the physical layout of the IC.

The first step in die-level failure analysis is to narrow the search to a specific circuit or transistor group. Then begins the post-isolation process which entails further localizing the defect, determining its electrical, physical, and chemical properties, and examining its microstructure in order to identify the root cause of failure. This chapter assesses the tools and techniques used for those purposes and the challenges brought on by continued transistor scaling, advanced 3D packages, and new IC architectures. The areas covered include sample preparation, nanoprobing, microscopy, FIB circuit edit, and scanning probe microscopy.

Laser Voltage Probing (LVP) is a key enabling technology that has matured into a well-established and essential analytical optical technique that is crucial for observing and evaluating internal circuit activity. This article begins by providing an overview on LVP history and LVP theory, providing information on electro-optical effects and free-carrier effects. It then focuses on commercially available continuous wave LVP systems. Alternative optoelectronic imaging and probing technologies for fault isolation, namely frequency mapping and laser voltage tracing, are also discussed. The subsequent section provides information on the use of Visible Laser Probing. The article closes with some common LVP observations/considerations and limitations and future work concerning LVP.

This chapter gives a brief review of the development of additive manufacturing (AM) and the appeal of different of different AM methods.

The hot-working process extrusion is used to produce semifinished products in the form of bar, strip, and solid sections, as well as tubes and hollow sections. The first part of this chapter describes the composition, properties, and applications of tin and lead extruded products with a deformation temperature range of 0 to 300 deg C and magnesium and aluminum extruded products with a working temperature range of 300 to 600 deg C. The second part focuses on copper alloy extruded products, extruded titanium alloy products, and extruded products in iron alloys with a working temperature range of 600 to 1300 deg C.

Magnetic field imaging (MFI), generally understood as mapping the magnetic field of a region or object of interest using magnetic sensors, has been used for fault isolation (FI) in microelectronic circuit failure analysis for almost two decades. Developments in 3D magnetic field analysis have proven the validity of using MFI for 3D FI and 3D current mapping. This article briefly discusses the fundamentals of the technique, paying special attention to critical capabilities like sensitivity and resolution, limitations of the standard technique, sensor requirements and, in particular, the solution to the 3D problem, along with examples of its application to real failures in devices.

Diagnosing the root cause of a failure is particularly challenging if the symptom of the failure is not consistently observable. This article focuses on Laser Assisted Device Alteration/Soft Defect Localization (LADA/SDL), a global fault isolation technique, for detecting such failures. The discussion begins with a section describing the three steps in LADA/SDL analysis setup: create the test loop with the fail flag and loop trigger, select the laser dwell time, and select the shmoo bias point. An overview of LADA/SDL workflow is then presented followed by a brief section on time-resolved LADA. The closing pages of the article consider in detail SDL laser interaction physics and LADA laser interaction physics.