3D x-ray computed tomography (CT), using conventional laboratory-based x-ray sources, has been used in the past to image multiple levels of interconnects in 3D microelectronic packages. These conventional x-ray sources can provide high resolution images with throughput times (TPT) of several hours. However, this can only be performed on localized areas of about 1-2 mm 2 , which gravely limits the application of 3D x-ray CT in the field of microelectronic packages with sizes usually in the range of 100-3600 mm 2 . An alternative to laboratory-based x-ray sources is synchrotron radiation, which can produce large area collimated beams for high flux x-ray imaging over a much larger field of view (FOV) than conventional sources. Synchrotrons can potentially image an entire 3D stacked chip package at high resolutions in less than an hour. Here, we present results using the micro-CT line at the advanced light source synchrotron to image an entire 16 9 16 mm system in a package in times as low as 3 min, demonstrating several orders of magnitude increase in the ratio of FOV to TPT as compared to laboratory-based x-ray methods.
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