Packaged Chip Image

Images taken in a controlled environment or with a posed subject. All subject types.

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mawyatt
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Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:54 pm
Location: Clearwater, Florida

Packaged Chip Image

Post by mawyatt »

Image

Image

Image

These are chip images in a QFN package (lid off) of a patented circuit we call a 4 bit Direct Digital to Antenna. These were created with 5X objective and a Nikon 70-200 F2.8 as "tube lens" on a D800 mounted on a focus rail and focus stacked with Zerene.

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Excellent, excellent! The lighting is spot on. I'm not sure I've ever seen a chip in quite this pristine condition. You guys make these things, then?

--Rik

mawyatt
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Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:54 pm
Location: Clearwater, Florida

Post by mawyatt »

Thx Rik. The lighting was difficult, at least for me!!

mawyatt
Posts: 2497
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:54 pm
Location: Clearwater, Florida

Post by mawyatt »

rjlittlefield wrote:Excellent, excellent! The lighting is spot on. I'm not sure I've ever seen a chip in quite this pristine condition. You guys make these things, then?

--Rik
Rik,

We design and layout these chips and have them fabricated by a silicon "foundry", IBM in this case. The design is quite involved and the layout affects chip performance, so it's an irradiative process that takes months and years to complete. The fab takes 3-6 months and involves very complex steps with between 30 and 60 optical masks that are used for exposure. The optical masks are operated well below diffraction limit wavelengths. They are pre distorted to produce the desired final result (working backwards) and require massive supercomputers to calculate the mask details. Sometimes multiple masks are required to yield the desired result. The packaged chip is from a new IBM process called Silicon Germanium BiCMOS 9HP, the bare chip is from an IBM process called Silicon Germanium BiCMOS 8WL. The 9HP process has feature sizes of 90nm, while 8WL is 130nm.

Wish I could show a new chip, the solder balls are bright and not dented. These images are much better than the bare chip shown, but I can't show because of proprietary nature. The bright spherical solder ball mirrors (they weren't oxidized like the image posted) were a challenge indeed!!!

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