Through-the-substrate investigation of flip-chip IC's
First Claim
1. A method of exposing a selected feature of an IC (integrated circuit) device without disturbing adjacent features of the IC device, the IC device having a silicon substrate with a front side and a back side and having on the front side a plurality of structures defining said features, comprising:
- a. determining a region of the IC device in which the selected feature is located;
b. acquiring from the back side of the substrate an IR optical microscope image of said region;
c. aligning the IR optical microscope image with a coordinate system of a milling system; and
d. using structures visible in the IR optical microscope image as a guide, operating the milling system to expose the selected feature from the back side of the IC device without disturbing adjacent features.
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Abstract
Methods are provided for exposing a selected feature of an IC device, such as a selected conductor, from the back side of the substrate without disturbing adjacent features of the device, such as active regions. One such method comprises: (a) determining a region of the IC device in which the selected feature is located; (b) acquiring from the back side of the substrate an IR optical microscope image of the region; (c) aligning the IR optical microscope image with a coordinate system of a milling system; and (d) using structures visible in the IR optical microscope image as a guide, operating the milling system to expose the selected feature from the back side of the IC device without disturbing adjacent features.
75 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of exposing a selected feature of an IC (integrated circuit) device without disturbing adjacent features of the IC device, the IC device having a silicon substrate with a front side and a back side and having on the front side a plurality of structures defining said features, comprising:
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a. determining a region of the IC device in which the selected feature is located; b. acquiring from the back side of the substrate an IR optical microscope image of said region; c. aligning the IR optical microscope image with a coordinate system of a milling system; and d. using structures visible in the IR optical microscope image as a guide, operating the milling system to expose the selected feature from the back side of the IC device without disturbing adjacent features. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification