Employ low voltage FE-SEM in semiconductor failure analysis

Developments in semiconductor devices have rapidly accelerated toward high integration, high density and high functionality. In addition, use applications are widely penetrated into various consumer and industrial fields.

Failure analysis is the process of investigating semiconductor devices after failure is observed by electric measurement, and by physical, microscopy and chemical analysis techniques necessary to confirm the reported failure and clarify the failure mechanism. It relies on collecting failed components for subsequent examination of the cause or causes of failure using a wide array of methods. The nondestructive testing (NDT) methods are valuable because the failed products are unaffected by analysis, so inspection usually starts using these methods.

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Originally published by Agilent Technologies Inc. at www.agilent.com as "The Role of a Compact Low Voltage FE-SEM in Semiconductor Failure Analysis".