N. Antoniou et al., Control of localized access to circuitry through the backside using focused ion beam technology, J VAC SCI B, 17(6), 1999, pp. 2730-2733
Complex logic chips are almost exclusively assembled in flip chip packaging
. This type of assembly complicates traditional debug and circuit modificat
ion techniques. Development of new applications and new equipment now enabl
e precise access to the circuitry of flip chip parts. One such application
and the equipment developed are being introduced in this article. The techn
ique makes use of optical beam induced current (OBIC) as a way to measure t
he amount of silicon that is left covering active areas of a flip chip circ
uit after a trench has been milled in the bulk silicon using a focused ion
beam (FIB) system. The apparatus is all contained in one system thus enhanc
ing the throughput of such work. When accessing the circuitry of flip chip
parts, it is crucial to be able to locally remove silicon from the backside
to within a few microns of the circuitry. This is necessary in order to pr
eserve the integrity of the part and allow access to the circuitry for prob
e point creation or circuit modification using FIB. OBIC offers a high leve
l of resolution and accuracy in measuring thin layers of bulk silicon in hi
p chips. In this article we describe the apparatus used, the details of the
application, data collected, and a theoretical model developed to confirm
the experimental findings. (C) 1999 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-211X(99
)08406-1].