IEEE/CPMT Dinner Meeting:

"Die Traceability and Defect Analysis" --
Jerry Secrest, Secrest Research; Ori Sarfaty, Sagitta; Brad Kinslow, Neocera

Wednesday, November 10, 1999
Subsidized buffet dinner ($15 if reserved before Nov. 6; $20 after & at door) served at 6:30, Presentation (no cost) at 7:30.
Location: FAZ restaurant, at the Four Points Hotel, on Mathilda, north of Hiway 237 and Fwy 101 junction, Sunnyvale
PLEASE RSVP (for dinner and/or meeting) by email to Tom Tarter, or call our CPMT hotline at 800-686-9366.

OVERVIEWS:

Die Traceability -- You Choose (Jerry Secrest of Secrest Research)

This first talk will cover die trace from a finished IC back through to a slice position in a Silicon ingot. The questions about die traceability are, how is it to be done, how much trace and who is going to pay for it? To answer these, a semiconductor supplier or customer needs to look at the value to them as well as the part package. There are several technologies and methods that can be used from a 2D mark with attributes to mapping of carriers throught the assembly-test operation.

SEMI standards cover strip marking and are starting to cover mapping so that an implementer can chose an approach. Implementation using the technology available today allows traceability from a semiconductor in a package to a wafer. With a little more effort, a trace can be made to a location on a wafer. Again, the implementer can chose the level of traceability.

Defect Analysis (Ori Sarfaty, Sagitta)

Sagitta Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets solutions for semiconductor failure analysis and yield enhancement laboratories. Utilizing advanced image processing techniques and precise motion control systems, Sagitta's products offer the unique capability of automatically and accurately polishing wafer samples straight to a point. Consequently, use of Sagitta solutions significantly reduces sample preparation time, thereby accelerating the process of identifying malfunctions and dramatically increasing yields.

Sagitta's products are based on a proprietary core technology which allows superb process control. Incorporating a unique design of mechanics and optics with dedicated control algorithms, it also combines the latest opto-electronics and advanced image processing algorithms to monitor the sample preparation process with superb accuracy.

NEXT-1, Sagitta's first product, is an automatic cross-sectioning system designed for fast and accurate sample preparation for process monitoring and Failure Analysis (FA) purposes, offering a unique ability of cross-sectioning wafer samples for microstructure analysis (such as SEM, TEM) at a predefined point. Using on-line video microscopy control and precise polishing methods, NEXT-1 provides users with a one-stop sub-micron sample preparation and analysis workstation.

Sagitta Ltd. was founded in January 1995. Corporate headquarters are located in Ramat-Gan, Israel.

Detecting Power Shorts from Front and Backside of IC Packages Using Scanning SQUID Microscopy (Brad Kinslow, Neocera)

As process technologies of integrated circuits become more complex and the industry moves toward flip-chip packaging, present tools and techniques are having increasing difficulty in meeting failure analysis needs. One of the most common failures in these types of packages and technologies are power shorts, both during fabrication and in the field. Many techniques such as Emission Microscopy and Liquid Crystal are either not able to locate power shorts or are inhibited in their effectiveness by multiple layers of metal and flip-chip type packaging.

A scanning SQUID microscope can overcome some of these difficulties. A SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) is a very sensitive magnetic sensor that can image magnetic fields generated by magnetic materials or currents (such as those in an integrated circuit). The current density distribution in the sample can then be calculated from the magnetic field image, and resolutions approaching 5 times the near field limit can be obtained.

Presented here is the application of a SQUID microscope to physical failure analysis. We have investigated shorted current paths on various devices at both package and die levels. The samples have all been imaged nondestructively using low currents. Where possible, the results from the SQUID microscope are compared to the results from deprocessing.

Speaker Biographies:

Jerry Secrest supplies manufacturing data automation design services to the semiconductor industry plus education in the SEMI standards covering manufacturing equipment communications. A related service designs and implements high accuracy screening models to increase yields and quality levels. Previously he was marketing manager for GCA an OEM and a manufacturing operations manager for Fairchild Semiconductor. He has a BA in Physics.

Ori Sarfaty, the founder of Sagitta Ltd., was formerly an integration engineer for the Israeli space telescope and a design engineer for real-time radar target classification platforms. He has extensive experience in managing professional personnel and multi-disciplinary R&D projects, including the design and execution of real-time embedded systems. He acquired his M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Technion, Haifa.

Brad Kinslow is the manager of sales and marketing for imaging and analysis tools at Neocera, Inc. As such, he has launched Neocera's semiconductor operations including establishing a worldwide distribution network and marketing plan. Brad graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a BS in Political Science and George Washington University with an MBA in Marketing. He spent his first five years in the Navy on surface combatant around the world. He held responsibility for advanced communications, weapons and detection systems. From 1996 to 1998, he was on the Chief of Naval Operations' staff in Washington, D.C. where he worked to bring 'best business practices' to government housing operations.