We have been exploring the application of SWIR camera in the semiconductor industry.

Silicon based materials are widely used in the microelectronic industry, such as chips and LEDs.Due to their high thermal conductivity, mature manufacturing processes, good electrical properties and mechanical strength, they are important materials for microelectronic devices.

However, due to the crystal structure and manufacturing process of the material, hidden cracks are prone to form in the material, which greatly affects the electrical performance and reliability of the device. Therefore, accurate detection and analysis of these cracks has become an important link in microelectronic manufacturing.

The traditional testing methods for silicon based materials include manual inspection and X-ray inspection, but these methods have some shortcomings, such as low efficiency of manual inspection, easy occurrence of missed inspections and quality inspection errors; However, X-ray testing has drawbacks such as high cost and radiation hazards. In response to these issues, SWIR cameras, as a new type of non-contact detection equipment, have the advantages of efficiency, accuracy, and safety, becoming a widely used hidden crack detection technology.

The detection of cracks on silicon substrate using a SWIR camera is mainly to determine the cracks and their locations in materials by analyzing the infrared Radiant energy spectrum and characteristics of the material surface. The working principle of the SWIR camera is to capture and reflect the Radiant energy within the infrared wavelength range emitted by the object on the display through infrared optical technology, and then analyze the texture, shape, color and other characteristics in the image through processing and analysis software to determine the hidden crack defect and location in the material.

Through our actual testing, it can be found that using our 5um pixel size, 1280×1024 high sensitivity SWIR camera, is sufficient to detect silicon based crack defects. Due to project confidentiality factors, it is temporarily inconvenient to provide images.

In addition to the proven silicon-based crack detection applications, theoretically speaking, SWIR cameras can also achieve detection of device surfaces, internal circuits, etc. This method is non-contact and does not require the use of radiation sources, which has extremely high safety; Meanwhile, due to the high absorption coefficient within the wavelength range of shortwave infrared, the analysis of materials is also more accurate and refined. We are still in the exploratory stage of such applications.

We hope that shortwave infrared cameras can become an important detection technology in the field of microelectronics manufacturing.