Packaging is an essential technology for semiconductor products. Today's trend toward miniaturization of components and packages is creating many new challenges, especially for package inspection. Higher I/O counts, combined with a decrease in chip size and pitch are pushing the limits of conventional inspection modalities, and creating new inspection requirements. The space requirement of active chips can already be reduced to a minimum by implementing CSP's (Chip Size Packages) or flip chips. A further miniaturization, however, requires a 3-dimensional integration of active and passive components.

To ensure that today's compact but complex electronics function properly, devices inside are inspected and tested at various stages. For package inspection manufacturers are increasingly looking to non-destructive X-ray inspection. Unlike machine vision and optical inspection equipment, which can image only the surface of samples, X-ray systems penetrate substrate materials non-destructively to expose hidden features such as cracks, voids and other crucial component anomalies. YXLON microfocus X-ray equipment offers real-time projections from virtually any angle. Equipped with micron-size focal spots it can easily resolve gold bonding wires, flip chip solder balls and small metal structures without blurring.

Where real-time microfocus X-ray is at its limit to detect delamination between two material layers or thin layer cracks, the likewise X-ray based microfocus Computed Tomography (µCT) is proving useful capabilities in detecting cracks that do not have enough density difference to create sufficient contrast in a projected image. YXLON offers a broad product portfolio of both microfocus X-ray and µCT (microfocus Computed Tomography) systems to ensure that the needs of the electronic industry can be matched.