NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTS USED TO INSURE THE INTEGRITY OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES, WITH EMPHASIS ON ACOUSTIC EMISSION TECHNIQUES.

Device assembly techniques and problems, and six important nondestructive tests used during and after device packaging to insure the mechanical integrity of completed electronic devices are reviewed. Economic and other factors that result in the choice of one screen over another and production line statistical sampling appropriate to special high reliability device lots such as those used for space flight are noted. The status of acoustic emission (AE) testing of microelectronics is discussed. Then the published papers that have applied AE as a nondestructive test in electronics applications are reviewed. Finally, passive AE techniques are applied to establishing the mechanical bond integrity of beam lead, flip chip, and tape-bonded ICs as well as components in hybrid microcircuits.