A Breakthrough in Resolution and Scan Speed: Overcome the Challenges of 3D X-ray Imaging Workflows for Electronics Package Failure Analysis

Non-destructive 3D X-ray microscopy (XRM) has played an important role in advances of semiconductor packaging development and failure analysis [1]-[3]. Over the past decade, the IC industry has increasingly focused on packaging innovations to improve device performance and cost-effectiveness. The emergence of novel 2.5D, 3D and recent heterogenous integration packages challenges the existing X-ray imaging and characterization workflows because I/O interconnects such as small-volume solders and hybrid Cu-to-Cu bonds are more miniaturized in densely packed packages. In this report, we will introduce a new scintillator material coupled with a 40X objective lens (referred as 40X-P), integrated in an XRM detector system, capable of delivering better spatial resolution and contrast than the traditional Cesium Iodide (referred as CsI) scintillator based X-ray detector. Several commercial semiconductor packages will be imaged and analyzed with both the new 40X-P and a standard 40X objectives for comparison. We will also demonstrate that the data acquisition with 40X-P can be accelerated by a factor of four with a deep learning reconstruction method, improving its efficiency in failure analysis applications.