Micro- and nano-NDE for micro-electronics (back end)

Advanced techniques for nondestructive evaluation (NDE), having volume resolutions better than 1 micrometer voxel (three dimensional pixel) size, are urgently needed for the safety and reliability of electronic systems, especially those used in extended life applications. This paper presents the current status and future vision of sub-nanometer NDE. Techniques like acoustic- and X-ray microscopy, Near Field Scanning Optical Microscopy (NSOM), Nano-Raman microscopy, thermal wave microscopy, Atomic Force Acoustic Microscopy (AFAM) and others are described. The principles are briefly introduced, and applications are discussed and demonstrated with examples