Xradia Announces New X-ray Solutions for Advanced Semiconductor Packaging

Xradia, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of
ultra-high-resolution x-ray imaging systems for 3D tomography and
nanotechnology applications, today announced the sale of three of its
MicroXCT(TM) 3D Transmission X-ray Microscopes, to semiconductor
manufacturers for advanced packaging process development and failure
analysis. Combining spatial resolution below 1.5 micron and feature
recognition of 500nm, with full 3D tomography capability, the
MicroXCT(TM) is ideally suited to the engineering and failure analysis
of next-generation semiconductor packages, including multi stacked die
and flip-chip architectures. Two of the systems are being deployed to
fabs in the US for advanced package development and the third is
headed to Asia where it will be used to examine ball grid arrays.
"These system sales validate the importance of high-resolution
x-ray tomography as a critical new analytical tool for semiconductor
manufacturing," said Dr. Wenbing Yun, founder and President of Xradia.
"3D x-ray microscopy enables the non-destructive investigation of
design features or process defects, thereby lowering development costs
and speeding time to market," said Yun. "The ROI of Xradia's new x-ray
microscope system was evident from the very first sample images," said
My Nguyen, senior researcher at Altera Corporation, one of the new
system customers. "We are able to image features of interest not
otherwise observable with other techniques. No sample prep means
enormous cost savings and fast turn around time," said Nguyen.
High resolution 3D x-ray tomography provides critical new imaging
capability for semiconductor packaging, including C4 ball grid arrays,
stacked die, solder bumps and packaging interconnects. Defects such as
solder non-wet, cracks, voids, delamination, opens and shorts are
readily imaged. New applications are also emerging for RoHS lead-free
development and vias in ceramic packaging. Xradia also manufactures
microscope systems with sub 50nm resolution for chip and die-level
applications.

About Xradia, Inc.

Xradia, Inc. is a privately held company established in 2000 to
commercialize high-resolution x-ray microscopes for nondestructive
inspection and nano-scale imaging. Initially targeted at failure
analysis in the semiconductor IC industry, subsequent developments
have led to a suite of commercial x-ray imaging products that have
permitted expansion into markets that include metrology in
semiconductor IC production, scientific equipment, biomedical research
and nanotechnology development.