Common-path depth-filtered digital holography for high resolution imaging of buried semiconductor structures

We investigate digital holographic microscopy (DHM) in reflection geometry for non-destructive 3D imaging of semiconductor devices. This technique provides high resolution information of the inner structure of a sample while maintaining its integrity. To illustrate the performance of the DHM, we use our setup to localize the precise spots for laser fault injection, in the security related field of side-channel attacks. While digital holographic microscopy techniques easily offer high resolution phase images of surface structures in reflection geometry, they are typically incapable to provide high quality phase images of buried structures due to the interference of reflected waves from different interfaces inside the structure. Our setup includes a sCMOS camera for image capture, arranged in a common-path interferometer to provide very high phase stability. As a proof of principle, we show sample images of the inner structure of a modern microcontroller. Finally, we compare our holographic method to classic optical beam induced current (OBIC) imaging to demonstrate its benefits.

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