Microscale defects: small size, large impact
The smallest of imperfections can have great consequences on the devices and services we use on our daily lives, and need for solutions capable of reaching the range of micrometers and nanometers to detect them
Technology has advanced at a giant’s pace, and as a result we have been moving into smaller and smaller dimensions. The race for miniaturization has taken off in recent decades, and nowadays we’re developing minuscule components that maintain the capabilities of their predecessors, or even improve them. Today, almost every industry works at some point on the micrometer, or even nanometer, scale. But opening this door has also brought a drawback, and that is a greater vulnerability against the defects that can appear.
These defects aren’t the same as those we can find in our day-to-day lives, such as the scratches on the car, which, while unpleasant, don’t affect their performance. However, in this world so extremely small, these same scratches are deep pits that destroy the surface of the product and prevent the proper connection between components. On the chips that our devices use, something as small as a bump made with a pin can alter their performance and lifespan.
Nowadays, almost all industries work at some point at the micrometer scale, where there’s a greater sensitivity to imperfections
To understand these dimensions, think of a single hair. Its thickness is between 80 and 100 micrometers, and on an even smaller scale, between 80,000 and 100,000 nanometers. There are many sectors that constantly work in these conditions, such as semiconductor foundries where chips are manufactured, and which have become essential agents for scientific and technological progress in fields such as microtechnology or biomedical engineering.
And these dimensions present unique challenges, challenges that Wooptix wants to face with solutions such as the SEBI RT1000. This tool is a compact wavefront phase sensor, to observe in real-time surfaces with a precision of micrometers and nanometers. Thanks to the company’s WFPI technology, the device compares two captured images and reconstructs the light’s trajectory, providing high-precision results with a wide dynamic range. SEBI RT1000 has been designed from the ground up to facilitate operations in these dimensions so minuscule.
Wooptix has developed SEBI RT1000, a wavefront phase sensor capable of reconstructing the light’s trajectory to give highly accurate results in the smallest dimensions
And in the present, these operations are key to ensure the proper functioning and quality of small-scale systems, which have brought us lighter, faster, and more efficient products. The evolution of cell phones is a very recent example, and in just a few years we’ve seen the arrival of the smartphone, and how its transformed with every new release to become more powerful, lighter, and with more features than before. It’s a world of difference from the almost indestructible classics that once dominated the market.
But their high sensitivity to defects requires a carefully controlled environment to avoid any unwanted elements. While manufacturing these systems, a small deviation in the set parameters can cause long-term damage to their performance, reliability, and service life when they leave the factory.
In the case of chips, these imperfections are extremely harmful, and come with added challenges. Modern chips have complex architectures and packaging schemes that can hide defects, making quality control tasks using traditional optical and electronic methods more difficult.
Chips are the brains of our devices, and even the smallest of imperfections can have a serious impact in their performance, and even lead to complete device failure. Dirt particles can obstruct the circuits and the different layers that make up the chip, pits on its surface accumulate contaminants and conflict with components, and bubbles or voids can cause structural weaknesses, among others.
But these imperfections aren’t just important in the electronics industry. In other sectors, such as aviation, they ‘re also a major concern to which time and resources are devoted. Because aircraft can show very minor structural damage from their constant use, amongst them microscopic cracks in the engine blades. These blades are key components of aircraft, and the cracks can lead to blade failure and performance problems, posing risks that could unravel into disastrous consequences.
Most of the defects that can be found in the blades are extremely small, less than 1 mm, and invisible to the human eye. Along with the cracks, a whole collection of imperfections can appear, caused by use or born during manufacturing, such as gas holes or microporosities. For these reasons, regular inspections are very frequent, checking the condition of components and making informed maintenance decisions to improve safety and confidence in aviation operations.
SEBI RT1000 has been designed as a versatile solution, able to answer the needs of the different industrial and academic environments.
And it’s in the face of all this variety of situations why SEBI RT1000 has been designed as a versatile solution, able to adapt to the needs of the different industrial and academic environments. From surface quality control to detect the smallest critical imperfections, to the characterization of the most sensitive equipment, SEBI RT1000 aims to be a loyal tool with which to get into the most minuscule dimensions we work with today. In addition, thanks to its higher lateral resolution, it can operate at high frequencies beyond the capabilities of conventional microlens sensors.
Modern advances are leading us down the path of miniaturization, to explore and exploit an ever-smaller world. It is a turning point, where we will see new ways to develop the necessary tools for this purpose, ways in which Wooptix wants to stand out as one of the pioneers.
Author: Daniel Cuartero
About Wooptix
Wooptix is a leader in semiconductor metrology using wave front phase imaging, a technique derived from adaptive optics research in astronomy. With a multidisciplinary team, Wooptix aims to revolutionize the semiconductor metrology industry with the highest lateral resolution and fastest measurement technique for online factory measurements.
The company has developed Phemet®, a silicon wafer measurement tool, which is the precursor to the next fully automated manufacturing tool expected in 2025. Wooptix has already implemented Phemet® at various customer sites worldwide. Wooptix is headquartered in Tenerife, Madrid (Spain), and San Francisco (USA).