SBIR Phase II: Innovative Glass Inspection for Advanced Semiconductor Packaging

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to enhance the semiconductor industry. The development of the proposed technology will advance the creation of and reduce the cost of high-quality electronic products such as smartphones, laptops, televisions, AR/VR devices, 5G components, and data storage devices that will be commercially available to individual consumers. This research project will have a substantial societal benefit on the revitalization of the US semiconductor industry by creating more American jobs, boosting national security and reducing the vulnerability of semiconductor devices to tampering and counterfeiting and giving the US a competitive edge in the global market. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will create technology that will advance the creation of high-quality electronic products that will be commercially available to individual consumers. The increasing use of glass panels for semiconductor packaging presents an opportunity to develop technology which will perform full surface inspection of these panels for defects. No nano-particle inspection technology exists for ≥300 mm glass substrates for particles ≤300 nm in diameter, such as those used in advanced semiconductor packaging. The successful development of this highly sensitive process control technology will address these glass inspection pain points, with substantial improvements in yield for semiconductor packaging companies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.