Die Crack Prevention and Detection in Advanced Packaging
Authors: Han Woo Young 
Published: January 2025

Semiconductor manufacturers are

continuously driving efforts to put

more computing power and speed into

less volume. At the same time,

consumers are demanding devices with more functionality that integrate a variety of interconnected circuit types. The result has been an

increasing reliance on advanced

packaging technologies that use fab-like processes to integrate multiple

chips and to provide the increased I/O

capability required.

The demand for higher performance

electronics in smaller packages has led

to the development of wafer level packaging (WLP), panel level packaging (PLP) and fan-out level packaging. The

need for low cost, smaller packages

with high density interconnects for

cell phones and wearable devices has

been leading the development of

advanced packaging. All of these advanced packaging techniques involve stacking multiple chips in vertical directions. In DRAM memory packaging, there are as many as eight dies

integrated vertically and the manufacturers are trying to keep the

thickness of the die as minimal as possible to keep an overall thin

package profile.

Backside thinning of fully processed

wafers has become a widely used

technique in the industry. Typical

final wafer thickness in the early 1990s was around 450µm but current wafers are usually thinner than 50µm.

As the final wafer thickness is getting

thinner, they are becoming more fragile and susceptible to cracks and chips. Chipping and cracks can cause near-term yield and long-term reliability

problems. If a chip or crack is discovered during the final processes of advanced packaging, the overall final yield will be lower. If it is not discovered, the end device may not be reliable in the real world and fail for

the consumer, a more costly consequence.

As wafers became thinner, the industry

started seeing sidewall cracks, inner

cracks and micro cracks starting from

the kerf or street area initiated from

wafer sawing. These types of cracks

can cause air bubbles around the cracks

during the molding process in fan-out

packaging and eventually lead to mold cracking which can lead to lower

yields. It would be very beneficial if

these types of cracks are detected

early and the affected die removed.

However, these types of cracks are

happening underneath the die surface and are difficult to see with

traditional bright field and dark field

illuminations because they are underneath the top surface.

Consumer tolerance for device failure

is at an all-time low, as they demand

more functionality and more convenience

from their electronic devices.

Wafer level packaging (WLP), panel level packaging (PLP) and fan-out level

packaging advanced packaging techniques all involve extensive use of bumps and die thinning to establish

electrical connections in vertical directions. Packaging these vertically integrated die requires the need to provide interlayer connections that are

as small and reliable as the multilayer

interconnect technologies used within the chip.

This need for vertical connections has

created a whole new class of technologies; advanced packaging;

with a whole new lexicon of terms and

acronyms: through-silicon vias (TSVs),

redistribution layers (RDLs), bumps,

pillars, nails, under bump metallization (UBM), wafer-level

packaging (WLP), fan-in, fan-out, and

many more. All of these technologies

serve the purpose of providing reliable, electrically isolated,

vertical connections, and most, at some

point, involve the creation of a

conductive; ump; protruding through an insulating layer to carry the signal to

the next layer above or below.

As more chips are integrated vertically, overall package thickness increased as well and the common ways

to reduce the overall package thickness

are by thinning chips or die and reducing bump sizes. As die or chips are getting thinner, they become more fragile and susceptible to cracks or chippings. Cracks or chips can reduce

the final package yields or cause long

term reliability issues in the consumer

devices.

This paper describes inspection challenges for cracks underneath the die surface and possible solutions to

overcome the challenges.