Lock-In-Thermography, Photoemission, and Time-Resolved GHz Acoustic Microscopy Techniques for Nondestructive Defect Localization in TSV

Through silicon via (TSV) is the most promising technology for vertical system integration and novel 3-D chip architectures. Reliability and quality assessment necessary for process development, root-cause analysis, and manufacturing require appropriate nondestructive testing techniques to achieve high processing yield and reliability. This paper presents two advanced approaches for nondestructive localization of defects in TSVs. The first method investigated here was lock-in thermal imaging by thermography and photoemission microscopy to inspect and localize electrical shorts within the 3-D geometry of the TSV insulation liner. In addition, filling defects in the TSVs have been inspected using acoustic microscopy in the gigahertz frequency band in time and spectral domains.