Failure Analysis
Eventually, every chip is going to fail or fall short of desired functionality. Understanding the root causes behind these failures can improve your products to stand out amongst competitors or reveal a clue of the more significant potential problems lurking below the surface.
Outermost Technology has extensive semiconductor failure analysis capability from the initial non-destructive level 1 analysis, level 2 optical fail localization using PHEMOS/THEMOS, and level 3 advanced fail spot analysis like TEM/EELS, AFM/SCM/SSRM/C-AFM, micro-probing of the failed spot/bits.
| Level 1 | External Inspection | Low/High Power Scope | Outside surface analysis |
| Electrical Test | Pin or Wafer Level Electrical Testing | Confirm fails at pin/wafer levels like I-V curve, static DC biasing, memory array test, etc. | |
| Non-Destructive Analysis | Regular X-ray Imaging | Inspection of wiring & die | |
| 3-D X-ray Imaging | X-ray computed tomography | ||
| Confocal Scanning Acoustic Microscope (C-SAM) | Package delamination and chip crack inspection | ||
| Decapsulation | Chemical/Mechanical Method | Package removal | |
| Level 2 | Optical Fall Localization | Photon Emission Microscopic Analysis (PHEMOS) & Thermal Emission Microscopic Analysis (THEMOS) | To pinpoint failure locations by detecting weak light (PHEMOS) and heat emission (THEMOS) |
| Optical Beam Induced Resistance Change (OBIRCH) | To find defects near IR beam induced heat change | ||
| Backside IR Imaging | Optical failure imaging of SiP, CSP and flip chip, etc. | ||
| Liquid Crystal Analysis | To find failures from abnormal leakages or hot spots | ||
| Level 3 | Fall Root Cause Imaging | Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Cross Section | Nano-level imaging of failure root causes using SEM, TEM and EDS/EELS for compositional element analysis |
| Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) | |||
| Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) & EDS/EELS | |||
| Advanced Failure Spot Analysis | Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) & Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) | Compositional analysis of failed location with SEM or TEM | |
| Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) & Scanning Capacitance Microscopy (SCM) & Scanning Spread Resistance Microscopy (SSRM) | Surface failure, P or N dopant type, area/profile scanning of the resistance | ||
| Micro-Probing of the Failed Spot/Bits | Micro-probing by making pads or ~ 5 nm size probe at failed spots or in the memory array |