FEATURE Materials Handling & Conveying
Non-destructive testing of specialty metals and materials
T
oday’s electronics products contain various specialty metals, alloys, plastics and glass components. Manufacturers of high-end semiconductor electronic products used in consumer, industrial and military applications have long relied on precise testing methodologies to identify the location of defects such as voids, cracks and the delamination of diff erent layers within a microelectronic device. They use a range of techniques, including scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM), a non-invasive and non-destructive ultrasonic testing method that has become an industry standard to detect and analyse fl aws during various chip production steps, as well as in the fi nal quality inspection stage, after packaging.
All semiconductor components need to be enclosed and packaged in consumer usable form factors. As a result, SAM equipment has evolved and is now being used to detect subsurface fl aws, dis- joints, cracks and other irregularities in these types of materials that constitute “packaging” of semiconductor components. SAM is often used as a Failure Analysis method when needed to identify a specifi c root cause failure mechanism when a device fails during use. “The reality is that a failure in an
electronic product package or a non- semiconductor component can be just as catastrophic as a failure with the semiconductor,” said Hari Polu, OKOS President, a US-based manufacturer of SAM and industrial ultrasonic non- destructive (NDT) systems.
Detecting flaws with SAM SAM is a powerful non-invasive and non-destructive method for inspecting internal structures in optically opaque materials. Depth-specifi c information can be extracted and applied to create two- and three-dimensional images without time- consuming tomographic scan procedures and costly X-rays. SAM works by directing focused ultra-
high frequency sound from a transducer at a tiny point on a target object. The sound as it passes through the material
18 July/August 2021 2021 | Automation
Non-destructive advanced scanning acoustic microscopy detects flaws in specialty metals, materials and packaging of semiconductor devices. By Stephen Armstrong, US-based technology writer
is either scattered, absorbed, refl ected or transmitted. Detection of the direction of the scattered pulses and measuring the TOF (time of fl ight) determines the presence and distance of a boundary or object. 3D images are created by scanning an object point-by-point and line-by-line. Scan data is then processed by special imaging software and fi lters to resolve a specifi c area of focus in either single or multiple layers. To date, the industrial sector has traditionally used other methods considered inferior compared to what is being used in today’s semiconductor industry. However, with SAM equipment, specialty materials manufacturers can achieve the same level of failure testing for the companies that make metals, alloys, composites and titanium plates used in electronic devices.
“OKOS has leveraged the lessons and the tight specifi cations from the semiconductor world and adapted its SAM scanning systems for various form factors,
providing unique solutions for specialty crystalline, metals and other materials for our customers in the industrial markets,” said Polu. “With this type of testing, we can inspect materials at a level one to two orders of magnitude better to discover fl aws that were previously undetected.” Today, much of the SAM equipment can inspect various items with unique product geometries and sizes, from crystal ingots, wafers and electronics packages to miniature physical packaging, metal bar/ rods/billets, turbine blades, and more. However, as important as the physical and mechanical aspects of conducting a scan is, the software is key to analysing that information to produce detailed scans. OKOS’s ODIS Acoustic Microscopy software supports a wide range of transducer frequencies from 2.25 to 230MHz. Multi-axis scan options enable A, B and C scans, contour following, off - line analysis and virtual rescanning for composites, metals and alloys, resulting in highly-accurate internal and external inspection for defects and thickness measurement via the inspection software. This type of equipment is well within reach of even modest testing labs, R&D centres and material research groups. “Every company will eventually move
towards this level of failure analysis because of the level of detection and precision required for specialty metals and materials,” says Polu. “The cost advantages and time savings of industrial SAM equipment make this possible.” SAM systems have an integral role in semiconductor device manufacturing based on their precision, usability and time-saving advantages compared to other non-destructive testing (NDT) options. Extending this testing methodology to specialty metals and materials can provide more robust failure detection capability for manufacturers of consumer, industrial and military electronic devices, and others.
CONTACT:
OKOS
www.okos.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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