Advanced X-ray Imaging Technologies for Heterogeneous 3D IC Package Metrology and Inspection

(28:40 & Q&A) -- WLP, 3D, inline inspection, buried layers, high resolution, tomography, multi-chiplet, submicron defects ... Dr. Wenbing Yun, Sigray, Inc. The advent of 3D Heterogeneous Integration (3DHI) in advanced packaging and wafer-level IC packaging introduces significant challenges for inline defect inspection and offline failure analysis. The 3D stacking and wafer bonding processes create optically opaque structures, necessitating techniques like x-rays to penetrate multiple buried layers for defect detection. However, as device features in 3DHI continue to shrink (e.g., microbumps shrinking to <10 µm in diameter and TSV interconnects scaling to single-digit micrometers), existing non-destructive techniques face substantial technological barriers. Current 3D X-ray methods require higher resolutions to meet these evolving demands, and acquiring sub-micron imaging data using conventional x-ray tomography can take hours or be impractical for large 300 mm wafers. To bridge these metrology gaps, we have developed two innovative 3D x-ray inspection tools: 1. High Throughput (3D Data in Minutes): This tool is designed for the rapid inspection of 300 mm wafers during wafer-level packaging and bonding. It can automatically resolve various 3D defects down to 0.5 µm resolution within minutes. It is also capable of addressing high-resolution multi-chiplet inspections, large advanced packages or board-level failure analysis, such as for PCBs. 2. High Resolution (300 nm spatial Resolution): This complementary tool aims to surpass the resolution limits of current leading high-resolution 3D x-ray and x-ray microscopes (XRM) for the failure analysis of advanced heterogeneous packages. It delivers true 300 nm spatial resolution (<50 nm voxel) for characterizing submicron defects in microbumps, delamination, voids, interfacial cracks, and RDL that are beyond the capabilities of existing XRMs. Bio: Dr. Wenbing Yun is a leading researcher in X-ray imaging, an innovator, a serial entrepreneur, and OSA fellow. He has over sixty issued patents on x-ray technology. Formerly a beamline scientist, he founded Xradia, Inc., a company aimed at enabling synchrotron-like x-ray microscopy in the laboratory. Under his leadership, the company established itself as a worldwide leader in high performance X-ray microscopes, growing profitably with over 100 people employed in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was successfully acquired by Carl ZEISS as its X-ray Microscope Division. Dr. Yun subsequently started Sigray, Inc. with a mission to make accessible all synchrotron analytical techniques to laboratories worldwide and to advance the performance of existing laboratory x-ray technologies by at least an order of magnitude. Sigray’s growing product portfolio includes microXRF, XAS, and nano x-ray microscope systems, and its key advantages lie in its patented x-ray source and optics components and its patented system designs. The company is now known as the x-ray equipment market leader with the highest performing products across all categories of x-ray techniques. Visit our website to hear about other Webinars, and to join our ListServ Dlist: ieee.org/scveps