"What is 'delayering?' "

Delayering is a process that involves removing various layers from an integrated circuit. This process, at its roots, has been around for many years; however, historically it has been an imperfect science. Currently, this process is done by reactive ion etching (RIE), wet chemistry, and mechanical polishing. Each of these methods have their own shortcomings. Reactive ion etching can only easily etch certain materials and while the etches tend to be fairly selective, RIE processes act anisotropically, which can be a hindrance. Mechanical polishing rounds the edges of the sample being delayered, along with not being very selective (whatever materials are exposed on top will be polished). Wet chemical etching is selective, but very difficult to control and will often result in etching lower metal layers through interconnect vias.

With the ingenuity of Texas Intruments' engineers and the technological know-how and resources of Nisene Technology Group/B&G International, the OmniEtch IC delayering system was conceived. Our IC delayering system uses a proprietary solid Carrier Medium to adsorb and absorb wet chemistry (nitric acid, buffered oxide etch, etc.) used to etch targeted die layers. As you might expect, the process is neary 100% automated, with very minimal user interaction with hazardous chemicals.

Click here to read more about the OmniEtch delayering system.