The application of the scanning electron microscope to the development of high-reliability semiconductor products

Examples are given which illustrate the wide range of applicability of the scanning electron microscope to the processing of high reliability semiconductor products. The three areas selected for presentation are devitrifying solder glass seals for hermetic packages, voltage contrast examination of biased integrated circuits, and metallization corrosion problems encountered in processing technology. The scanning electron microscope gave useful information quickly, and, in some cases, it gave answers that other methods were unable to supply.