Solid State Technology, June 2007

"Although backside defects have historically received much less attention than frontside defects, semiconductor manufacturers now realize that backside defectivity can contribute significantly to yield loss. Fortunately, much of this loss can be prevented or recovered if the defects are found soon enough. Yield-robbing backside defects are typically much larger than frontside defects, and the micro-defect inspection tools used on the frontside are not well suited for backside applications; the requirement that they detect very small defects makes them relatively slow and expensive. Macro-inspection tools, tuned to detect defects ≥5µm, are quite sufficient to capture most backside defects that can decrease yield, and are faster and less expensive to operate compared to micro-defect inspection tools."

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