FEATURE u Test & Measurement
Ensuring the reliability of devices through non-destructive testing
Non-destructive advanced scanning acoustic microscopy detects flaws in specialty metals, materials and packaging, writes Stephen Armstrong
T
oday’s electronics products contain various specialty metals, alloys plastics and glass components.
Manufacturers of high-end 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 different 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 flaws during various chip production steps, as well as in the final quality inspection stage, following 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 flaws, disbonds, cracks and other irregularities in various materials that constitute “packaging” of semiconductor components. SAM often uses as a Failure Analysis method when needed to identify a specific 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.
INSPECTING INTERNAL STRUCTURES SAM is a powerful non-invasive and non- destructive method for inspecting internal structures in optically opaque materials. Depth- specific 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 is either scattered, absorbed, reflected or transmitted. Detection of the direction of the scattered pulses and measuring the TOF (time of flight) 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
36 July/August 2021 Irish Manufacturing
OKOS Multi-axis XYZ-TT- GS industrial immersion scanning machine
data is then processed by imaging software and filters to resolve a specific 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 to the companies that make metals, alloys, composites and titanium plates used in electronic devices. “OKOS has leveraged the lessons and the tight specifications from the semiconductor world and adapted our 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 or two orders of magnitude better to discover flaws that were previously undetected.” Today, much of the SAM equipment can inspect various items with unique product geometries or sizes, from crystal ingots, wafers and electronics packages to miniature physical packaging, metal bar/rods/billets, turbine blades, and so on. However, as important as the physical and mechanical aspects of conducting
a scan, the software is the key to analysing the information to produce more details. 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 savings offered compared to other 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.
OKOS
www.okos.com
www.irish-manufacturing.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
