IC | Package Process Development

The only way to stay ahead in the industry is innovation. With innovation comes new designs, and with new designs comes new problems. For a robust technology, every variable must be within specifications, with hundreds of thousands of chances for errors.

In order to fix issues with a process or technology, it is critical to have fail mechanisms fed back to manufacturing. Process development is a feedback look where changes are continually monitored and modulated to meet exact criteria. Especially with new designs, physical verification and debugging are essential steps in continuous improvement, process development, and validation.

At Sage Analytical Laboratories we are able to aid in this process development cycle. On the electrical side, we have full automatic curve tracing and characterization tools. On new processes, our ESD lab can provide the necessary zaps to qualify if revisions meet standard specifications. To streamline the whole process, any ESD failures may then be analyzed in house to find the point of failure working towards root cause.

For physical concerns, we have all to tools and techniques needed to image your processes in even the most critical of dimensions. Our high resolution cross sectioning tools allow us to get full level stacks of your devices, especially in critically dense or minimum pitch regions. We can provide images and analysis from the package level down through transistors themselves depending on the level of analysis you need.

Some examples of development:

• Using new materials
• Modulating etch and deposition times
• Validating a new technology node
• Changing packaging specifications
• New BGA and bumping techniques
• Different stress conditions
• New die attach methods

Sage Analytical can get you the results you need to see if your processes are centered and acting as expected, aiding in improved yields and greater reliability. For longer qualification, we can provide the answers needed for yield learning to get you to target on your robust product needs.