Thermal, Mechanical, And Material Stresses Grow With Die Stacking


Managing thermal and mechanical stress in multi-die assemblies will require a detailed knowledge of how and where a device will be used, how it will be packaged, and where stresses could cause problems at any point during its expected lifetime. This includes everything from workload-dependent thermal gradients to mechanical and electrical stress, which may become more pronounced over time wi... » read more

Data Feed Forward And How It Works: Part 2


As chiplets and advanced packaging redefine semiconductor architecture, managing complexity isn’t just about the silicon—it’s about the data. Modern multi-die packages often contain components from different vendors, integrated in 2.5D or 3D configurations. Each die brings its own risks, and diagnosing issues after assembly is increasingly difficult—especially when data isn’t share... » read more

Five Questions To Ask When Selecting A Temporary Bonding And Debonding System


High-bandwidth memory blocks (HBM) memory, microprocessors, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), AI accelerators, and other devices used in advanced system-level packaging all rely on temporary bonding and debonding systems to shrink their footprint. Understanding which properties play the most crucial role in device reliability and efficient production will ensure you are maximizing your yie... » read more

The Other Side Of The Wafer: Transistor Channel Stress In Backside Power Delivery Networks


As transistor scaling has moved to the angstrom era (18A, 14A, etc.), the issues of interconnect resistance (IR), IR drop, and power loss are becoming more severe. Traditionally, signal lines and power lines are fabricated on the same side of the wafer as the active device. But fabricating everything on one side of the wafer can create a shortage of space and resources at the interconnect la... » read more

Extending Chip Lifetime With Safer Voltage Scaling


What if your chips lived 20% longer without compromising performance, and even while reducing power consumption? How would it affect your product’s reliability and cost? What would be the effect on your profitability? With the demand for longer-lasting chips growing across industries, designers and reliability engineers face increasing pressure to ensure their products perform correctly fo... » read more

How To Plan And Conduct Highly Accelerated Life Testing


Assessing the robustness of an electronic product is integral to successful design and performance. Highly accelerated life testing (HALT) is an important testing tool for this purpose, and its effectiveness can be maximized through careful planning prior to setup and detailed execution. What is HALT? HALT is the process of applying increased stressors to an electronic device to force failure... » read more

IC Stresses Affect Reliability At Advanced Nodes


Thermal-induced stress is now one of the leading causes of transistor failures, and it is becoming a top focus for chipmakers as more and different kinds of chips and materials are packaged together for safety- and mission-critical applications. The causes of stress are numerous. In heterogeneous packages, it can stem from multiple components composed of different materials. “These materia... » read more

Film Failure in Multilayer Systems for Semiconductor Devices


Researchers at MIT, Yonsei University (Seoul, Korea) just published this technical paper titled "Interfacial Delamination at Multilayer Thin Films in Semiconductor Devices." According to the abstract "In this work, the effect of thermomechanical stress on the failure of multilayered thin films on Si substrates was studied using analytical calculations and various thermomechanical tests." ... » read more

New Issues In Advanced Packaging


Advanced packaging is gaining in popularity as the cost and complexity of integrating everything onto a planar SoC becomes more difficult and costly at each new node, but ensuring that these packaged die function properly and yield sufficiently isn't so simple. There are a number of factors that are tilting more of the the semiconductor industry toward advanced [getkc id="27" kc_name="packag... » read more

The Evolving Thermal Landscape


Managing heat in chips is becoming a precision balancing act at advanced nodes and with advanced packaging. While it's important to ensure that temperatures don't rise high enough to cause reliability problems, adding too much circuitry to control heat can reduce performance and lower energy efficiency. The most common approach to dealing with these issues is thermal simulation, which requir... » read more

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