Development of Wafer Bond Integrity Inspection System Based on Laser Transmittance

Among several critical topics in semiconductor fabrication technology, particles in addition to bonded surface contaminations are issues of great concerns. This study reports the development of a system which inspects wafer bond integrity by analyzing laser beam transmittance deviations and the variations of the intensity caused by the defect thickness. Since the speckling phenomenon exists inherently as long as the laser is used as an optical source and it degrades the inspection accuracy, speckle contrast is another obstacle to be conquered in this system. Consequently speckle contrast reduction methods were reviewed and among the all remedies have been established in the past 30 years the most adaptable solution for inline inspection system is applied. Simulation and subsequently design of experiments has been utilized to discover the best solution to improve irradiance distribution and detection accuracy. Comparison between simulation and experimental results has been done and it confirms an outstanding detection accuracy achievement. Bonded wafer inspection system has been developed and it is ready to be implemented in FAB in the near future.