Microscope for Silicon Wafer Inspection / Decapping

Sep 18, 2005 1 Replies

Could anyone recomend a microscope for silicon inspection?



If interested, take a look at my website for decapping resources. I've collected quite a bit of information on the subject. Comments/suggestions welcome. Join up if you want. Link is below...



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The microscope I want to find has to provide better images than these:
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I've found two interesting models:



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There are a few here that look good:



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Is there anything I should be aware of?



I want to get crystal clear images of the silicon. Here is a 20 mega pixel example of what I can get by holding my digital camera to the eyepiece. Its fuzzy on the right because I had to "aim" at an angle into the eyepiece to avoid strange hazing. Warning...2mb JPEG



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I'd like to also find a cheap indexing head, even if its only one axis. I'd like to take a picture of a 68000, 6502, 8088, etc. I think it would be fun to have the whole die on a 30x30" photo at 300dpi.



Thanks, Grant



Microphotography under reflected light is an art, and demands more than "awareness". You need a good trinocular metallographic micr., with a revolving objective turret, good illumination, a set of reflected light objectives for low and high magnifications. Polarized light would be an asset. You should foresee more demanding work in the future than what you just need today. Best pictures you are dreaming of are obtained under low mag., oil immersion objectives. An outstanding control of light diaphragms is essential, especially if you are going to picture objects with high reflectivity variations (black plastic AND polished metal...), etc., etc....

J.J.

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