Is backside photoemission necessary? [IC failure analysis]

This paper presents a case to justify the purchase of commercially available, state of the art, backside-capable photoemission microscope (PEM) systems to support failure analysis and yield learning for DRAM and flash memory manufacturers. An investigation was conducted to evaluate the existing emission capabilities at Dominion Semiconductor (DSC), examine the possibility of upgrades and if necessary, visit several emission microscope manufacturers to determine which system would be best suited for use on our products.