A sample fabricating method of irradiating a sample with a focused ion beam at an incident angle less than 90 degrees with respect to the surface of the sample, eliminating the peripheral area of a micro sample as a target, turning a specimen stage around a line segment perpendicular to the sample surface as a turn axis, irradiating the sample with the focused ion beam while the incident angle on the sample surface is fixed, and separating the micro sample or preparing the micro sample to be separated. A sample fabricating apparatus for forming a sample section in a sample held on a specimen stage by scanning and deflecting an ion beam, wherein an angle between an optical axis of the ion beam and the surface of the specimen stage is fixed and formation of a sample section is controlled by turning the specimen stage.

Method and apparatus for specimen fabrication

When a desired portion is separated from an integrated circuit chip or a semiconductor wafer, the portion is separated without dividing the chip or the wafer, so that the separated specimen can be moved to a desired position, and the separated specimen can be set to a desired attitude. Therefore, various analyses on the specimen through TEM, SEM, SIMS and so on can be carried out. A minute piece of specimen is cut and separated from the substrate of a specimen by use of a three-dimensional minute processing technique and a micro-manipulation technique. A surface of the specimen is subjected to an FIB processing from at least two kinds of angles, the separated specimen being mechanically connected to an external probe in a step for separating a part of the specimen including a portion to be analyzed. The separated specimen is supported by the probe, being moved. The separated specimen is subjected to analysis through TEM, SEM, SIMS, etc.

Method for separating specimen and method for analyzing the specimen separated by the specimen separating method

A novel methodology for synthesizing compact, boundary condition independent, dynamic thermal models is represented. The resulting compact resistor/capacitor network accurately predicts the dynamic junction temperature response under any arbitrary set of external cooling conditions. The network is derived in two successive steps. First, a boundary condition independent resistor network is synthesized using steady-state finite element data for a large set of practical boundary conditions. Next, the general resistor network is expanded with discrete thermal capacitors featuring the thermal mass of the package. The value of the capacitors and their exact location within the resistor network is determined using frequency response finite element data for a limited set of boundary conditions. This paper focuses primarily on the second step, i.e., synthesis of the dynamic (capacitive) network elements. The synthesis method is successfully demonstrated for two types of polymer stud grid array (PSGA) packages, the standard PSGA and the thermally enhanced PSGA. It is shown that the thermal mass of a PSGA package can be lumped into five discrete thermal capacitances. For both the standard and the thermally enhanced PSGA, the generic compact dynamic network models can predict time dependent junction temperature profiles within an accuracy of 5%.

A generic methodology for deriving compact dynamic thermal models, applied to the PSGA package

The role of failure analysis is discussed. Failure analysis techniques and tools, including electrical measurements, optical microscopy, thermal imaging analysis, electron beam techniques, light emission microscopy, ion beam techniques, and scanning probe microscopy, are reviewed. Opportunities for advances in the field of IC failure analysis are considered. >

IC failure analysis: techniques and tools for quality reliability improvement

IC failure analysis: techniques and tools for quality and reliability improvement

The applications presented are: (1) microscopic selective cross-sectioning and in situ observation of the cross section; and (2) the observation of aluminum microstructure. These applications make failure analysis techniques simpler and less time-consuming. >

M. Murase

Papers

New applications of focused ion beam technique to failure analysis and process monitoring of VLSI