Tencor launched two new defect inspection products to meet the inspection needs of various IC package types

KLA-Tencor has launched two new defect detection products designed to solve the packaging challenges faced by various integrated circuits (IC). The Kronos 1080 system provides high-sensitivity wafer inspection suitable for mass production for advanced packaging, and provides critical information for process control and material handling. The ICOS F160 system inspects the package after the wafer is cut, and performs accurate and rapid chip classification according to the types of key defects, including the detection of sidewall cracks, a new type of defect that affects the yield of high-end packages. These two new inspection systems are added to the KLA-Tencor defect inspection, measurement and data analysis system product line, and will further help improve the packaging yield and chip classification accuracy.
Tencor launched two new defect inspection products to meet the inspection needs of various IC package types
"As the rate of chip shrinkage has gradually slowed down, the advancement of chip packaging technology has become an important factor in promoting component performance," said Oreste Donzella, vice president and marketing officer of KLA-Tencor. "For different component applications, packaged chips need to meet Various component performance, power consumption, size and cost goals. Therefore, package designs are more complex and diverse, with different 2D and 3D structures, and each generation is denser and smaller in size. At the same time, the value of packaged chips With substantial growth, electronics manufacturers’ expectations for product quality and reliability are constantly increasing. In order to meet these expectations, whether it is the back-end process of a chip manufacturer or an outsourced assembly test (OSAT) factory, packaging manufacturers need Sensitivity and cost-effective detection, measurement and data analysis, while requiring more accurate identification of defective products. Therefore, our engineering team has developed the new Kronos 1080 and ICOS F160 systems, which can meet the needs of the electronics industry for various package types There is a growing demand for defect detection suitable for mass production."
The Kronos 1080 system is designed to detect advanced wafer-level packaging process steps and provide information on various defect types for online process control. Advanced packaging technology inevitably includes smaller features, higher density metal patterns and multilayer redistribution layers-all of which continue to place higher demands on inspection and require innovative solutions. The Kronos system uses multi-mode optical systems and sensors as well as advanced defect detection algorithms to achieve industry-leading performance. The Kronos system also introduced FlexPointTM, an advanced technology derived from KLA-Tencor's IC chip manufacturing inspection solution. FlexPoint will focus its inspections on key areas of the chip because of the effects of defects in these areas. Flexible wafer processing can detect highly distorted wafers, which often occurs in fan-out wafer-level packaging-the packaging process is already a conventional technology for mobile applications and an emerging technology in networking and high-performance computing applications.
After the wafer level package has passed the test and dicing, the ICOS F160 performs inspection and chip classification. Manufacturers of high-end packages (such as mobile applications) will benefit from the new features of the system - detecting laser grooves, hairline cracks and sidewall cracks. This is caused by the use of new insulating materials on dense metal wiring. The change in insulating materials is to increase speed and reduce power consumption. The new material is fragile, making it prone to cracks during wafer dicing. As we all know, sidewall cracks are very difficult to detect because they are perpendicular to the chip surface and cannot be found by traditional visual inspection. The flexibility of the ICOS F160 system is another advantage, making it beneficial to many packaging types: the input and output modes can be wafer, tray or tape. The system can easily change from one setting to another. Its automatic calibration and precise chip grabbing also help improve equipment utilization in a mass manufacturing environment.
Kronos 1080 and ICOS F160 systems are part of the KLA-Tencor packaging solution series, designed to meet the needs of inspection, measurement, data analysis and chip classification of various IC packaging types. This series of products includes CIRCL-AP full-surface wafer inspection system, Zeta-580/680 3D measurement system for wafers and panels, ICOS T890, T3 and T7 series component inspection and measurement systems, and Klarity data analysis system .