The SC22 system assists in failure analysis-MCS case study
Failure analysis is about finding out why a product is behaving in a faulty way, and when it comes to electronics, finding the error requires the parts to be examined at nanoscale. When looking at such small features, extremely high resolution is crucial. This is why MCS – a company specialising in helping customers to solve product issues – decided to purchase a new scanning electron microscope (SEM) that would allow better imaging. Suzanne Costello, Chief Operating Officer at MCS, talks about how a Spicer SC22 magnetic field cancelling system allowed the company to get the most out of its new instrument.
MCS was founded in 1999 with the goal of helping electronics companies perform failure analysis. The backbone of the company is its expertise in material science, which is used to answer customers’ questions and support product design, manufacturing and qualification. MCS handles products of various sizes, from tiny semiconductors to massive bolts for wind turbines. Although the company is small, its customer base stretches across the world, from Silicon Valley in California to Europe and even New Zealand. Suzanne explained: “Our job is to figure out why a product is not working as it should, as well as finding the cause of the error. I like to think of it as a forensic lab; instead of looking at cadavers to figure out the cause of death, we look at dead products to find the reason behind the malfunction. We are mostly interested in what has happened in the material or the microstructure that prevents the product from performing in the way our clients expect it to.”
“What is special about our approach is that we do not use just one method to solve a problem, but a whole suite of technologies. This is something that is highly appreciated by our clients, since it means we can almost always find a solution to their problem. In our lab, you can find a number of different optical and electronic microscopes, as well as a Fourier-transform IR spectrometer, which allows us to study organic matter. We seek to constantly update and improve our equipment, which is why we recently purchased a new SEM that would provide even higher levels of magnification and resolution than our older instrument.”
“Soon after purchasing the instrument, we noticed that we could not operate it at the higher end of its magnification capabilities without losing resolution. To fix this issue, we decided to purchase a Spicer SC22 Magnetic Field Cancelling System, which came highly recommended by the manufacturer of the microscope. The Spicer system can cancel out stray magnetic fields, which are known to lower the performance of any electron microscope set-up.”
“I was surprised by how smooth the installation process was, and amazed by the difference the Spicer system made. We even tried switching the SC22 on and off while looking through the microscope, and saw how a grainy image became a perfectly clear picture when the noise was cancelled out. In summary, we had a great overall experience with Spicer, and will definitely buy another one of the company’s systems when we next upgrade one of our electron microscopes.”
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About Spicer Consulting Limited
Spicer Consulting magnetic field cancelling systems protect electron beam instruments – including scanning electron microscopes (SEM), transmission electron microscopes (TEM), electron beam lithography tools and SEM-based metrology and inspection tools – in the world's leading laboratories, universities and semiconductor manufacturing plants, as well as in the test facilities of electron and ion beam equipment manufacturers. Its magnetic field, vibration and acoustic analysis systems have been adopted as standard equipment for conducting site surveys by leading equipment manufacturers. Spicer Consulting is located in Stewartby, Bedfordshire, within the United Kingdom’s golden triangle of elite universities in London, Cambridge and Oxford. Contact us for more information.