An overview of experimental methodologies and their applications for die strength measurement

As the trends in semiconductor packages continue toward a decrease in overall package size and an increase in functionality and performance requirements, they bring challenges of processing, handling, and understanding smaller components and, in particular, thinner dies. In the meantime, high reliability remains a critical necessity. It is necessary to be able to appropriately characterize thinned dies in terms of their mechanical integrity and, equally important, in terms of the processes used to produce them. In practice, die strength can be adversely affected during various manufacturing processes, such as thinning and singulation. A realistic understanding of the significance of processing on die strength is gained through the study of the actual, processed component. This work outlines three methodologies that enable the measurement of die strength and demonstrates their application in three studies. Characterization of die damage, experimentation, and failure analysis are coupled to gain understanding of die strength with respect to processing conditions. The approaches demonstrated ultimately show the use of such information toward quantifying die strength, developing design criteria, selecting wafer processes, and optimizing processes.