Confocal scanning acoustic microscopy (CSAM)

Scanning acoustic microscopy is a non-destructive method to image the internal construction of solid EEE components using focused sound waves in the MHz range. At this, the technique reveals deficiencies like delaminations, cracking and voiding that would remain undetected in an x-ray radiography. Recently, this method has attracted more and more interest in the analysis of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for the use in space applications where commonly applied up-screening and analysis flows include a CSAM step (ECSS-Q-ST-60-13). But also in the non-destructive analysis of hi-rel components like multi-layer chip capacitors CSAM can be a valuable tool. Our acoustic microscope offers the following scanning modes:

• A-mode: amplitude signal at a fixed position of the transducer
• B-scan: vertical profile of the sample along a line
• C-scan: horizontal section through the sample, through time-gating the depth of the section can be adjusted
• T-scan: while the above modes record the reflected sound amplitude, the T- or through scan records the complementary transmitted signal

Our acoustic microscope is equipped to simultaneously record the reflected and transmitted signal to obtain high quality pictures in a time efficient and therefore cost saving manner. We have transducers with different frequencies to adjust to your samples’ characteristics.
We can offer analyses in accordance with the following standards on individual components or complete batches of up to hundreds of specimens:

• JEDEC-STD-020
• ESCC 25200
• MIL-STD-1580
• MIL-STD-883, method 2030