SEMICONDUCTOR INSPECTION


Liang et al.’s setup for combining single-pixel and terahertz imaging techniques, which could offer an excellent solution for non-invasive semiconductor inspection


to see where there might be a broken wire or malfunctioning chip.” Tis kind of inspection is currently


done by first capturing an image and then extracting positional information on a shot- by-shot basis, which is time-consuming. However, Liang sees single-pixel imaging as a technique for potentially dramatically increasing inspection speed. “Te advantage would be that you have much faster image rates,” he said. Liang’s research is still in its development


Liang’s team at INRS at the Université du Québec, Canada, has recently released a new camera based on single-pixel imaging technology, described in Nature Communications3


. Single-pixel imaging is a computational


imaging technology that relies not only on the optical image collected by a detector, but the use of a computer to reconstruct the image: technology that brings together both optical engineering and computer science. “Te marriage of these two fields can give


you many unique aspects that allow imaging systems to exceed the technical capabilities of conventional imaging systems,” says Liang. “Te focus of our research is towards the high-speed [imaging] aspect.” Liang’s research is describing cameras


that operate with frame rates of up to one million frames a second. At the moment, the technology exists only in the visible,


‘Combining single-pixel imaging with terahertz imaging could have great potential for non- invasive semiconductor inspection’


but Liang and his team are looking at commercialising their cameras for applications to long-wave infrared and terahertz imaging – potentially of interest to semiconductor wafer inspection. “Combining this [single-pixel imaging]


technique with terahertz imaging could be a very nice potential technique for non- invasive semiconductor inspection because it’s sensitive to the flow of charges,” he says. “We may be able to see the flow of charges


phase, though the team has partnered with Agile Light Industries to work on applying their research to existing commercial sensors. “For the technique we’ve developed, the


technological readiness level is rather high,” says Liang. “Right now, we are working on jointly developing this technology further, to turn it into a compact and turnkey device.” Te wafer inspection industry is one


where research such as Liang’s is filtering quickly into commercial products, mirroring a dynamic and uncompromising manufacturing environment. With others such as Lucid, Xenics and Quantum Science bringing new, blue-skies innovation into their own product lines, the future of chip inspection certainly looks bright. O 1


dollar industry’ 2


Market Research, 2031’ 3


speed single-pixel imaging by swept aggregate patterns’, Nature Communications 13, 7879 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/ s41467-022-35585-8


McKinsey & Company – ‘Te semiconductor decade: A trillion- Allied Market Research – ‘Semiconductor Inspection System Kilcullen, P., Ozaki, T. & Liang, J. ‘Compressed ultrahigh-


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