Application of high frequency scanning acoustic microscopy for the failure analysis and reliability assessment of MEMS sensors
Abstract We successfully applied high frequency scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM) as a tool for the analysis of MEMS sensors. Using state of the art transducers with frequencies up to 300 MHz, we evaluated the achievable resolution and performed case studies: we localized a contamination-induced delamination on the ASIC surface and studied failure modes after mechanical stability tests, showing that a combination of SAM and infrared microscopical evaluation provides information about the course of cracks on a micrometer length scale.