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- Defeating the Defects in Chips
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zogger Mon, 05 May 2008 21:14:36 PDT Electronics
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A process has been invented that "fixes" defects found in chips and wafers with a pulse from a laser. As chips get smaller, defects become even more important, because they can lead to electron or light leakage. This new technique smooths out the tiny traces and pits and makes them more smooth and uniform by melting them back into place.
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.."Chou's method, termed Self-Perfection by Liquefaction, achieves this by melting the structures on a chip momentarily, and guiding the resulting flow of liquid so that it re-solidifies into the desired shapes. This is possible because natural forces acting on the molten structures, such as surface tension -- the force that allows some insects to walk on water -- smooth the structures into geometrically more accurate shapes. Lines, for instance, become straighter, and dots become rounder."
ed.z.: Pretty spectacular results there in the before and after images.
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