30 September 2026. NanoImages, LLC has published details of its electron-beam-induced current (EBIC) imaging technique for semiconductor failure analysis. The company says EBIC measures the current flowing through a sample rather than the electrons or X-rays emitted from it, producing an image of where the electronics work.
In EBIC, each primary electron generates thousands of electron-hole pairs, the company states. Creating one pair costs roughly three times the bandgap energy, so a 20 keV electron landing in silicon produces on the order of five thousand of them. Near a p-n junction or Schottky contact, the built-in electric field separates the carriers. A picoampere beam becomes nanoamperes of collected signal, an amplification factor of a few thousand.
The company lists recombination centers including dislocations, stacking faults, grain boundaries, metallic precipitates, and process-induced damage. These appear as dark spots, lines, and boundaries on a bright background.
The SNE-Alpha carries a factory EBIC port alongside its EDS, EBSD, Raman, and CL ports, with a 1-30 kV range. NanoImages notes that packaged parts need decapsulation, and that thick passivation may call for higher kV or careful thinning.
Source: NanoImages, LLC news
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