My first attempts to take die shots

[Birdman.]

Hello all!

I found some old computer parts being thrown away at the university where I study, and they had a some EPROM and other interesting chips in them. I then found a stereo microscope at the electonics club of the university with suitable magnification for complete die shots. Unfortunately, I didn't have my 14 Mpix IXUS camera with me and I used another 10 Mpix camera. Anyway, I tested taking die shots by simply keeping the camera on one ocular of that stereo microscope and this is the result:

Intel 80287 FPU:

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Intel_80287_die2.JPG


Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Intel_80287_die3.JPG

Intel D27256J-2 (256 kbit EPROM):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Intel_D27256J-2_die.JPG


Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Intel_D27256J-2_die2.JPG

ST M27C4002 (4 Mbit EPROM):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/ST_M27C4002_die.JPG

Fujitsu MBL8742H (Intel 8742 EPROM-microcontroller in MCS-48 series):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Fujitsu_MBL8742H_die.JPG


Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Fujitsu_MBL8742H_die2.JPG

I tried to quickly fix the lens distortion caused by the windows of the EPROM chips, and the lighting is one incandescent spotlight almost from above. For some dies I added different versions with light coming from slightly different directions. I expect that this camera could capture almost all detail available in the view of that microscope. I also have decapped P54C Pentium and MIPS R4600 waiting, but unfortunately, I couldn't get any good pictures with the smaller magnification of that microscope needed for those larger dies to fit. I'll try to depack and delayer some chips in plastic and FCBGA packages later.

BTW, if you have some scratched, damaged or just too common CPUs or other chips that you don't want to keep or sell and you'd like to get die shots of them but can't take the die shots yourself, then I'd like to get those chips and take the die shots. I'd be really happy if you could help me to improve my die shot collection by sending chips for me or taking die shots yourself. I'll share high-resolution versions of all die shots I take and you can use them at CPU World site and elsewhere.

[Vlasta]

Nice!!

[Birdman.]

I took new die shots with a bit better camera and replaced the first ones with them. I used scaled down versions in this thread but I also linked to versions with original resolution. I'll try to take more die shots later.

I hope you enjoy these.

[Birdman.]

I found out that the material science department at the university has one great microscope for photographing surfaces with a wide range of magnifications. Students can freely use it, so I can take photos of complete dies and really small details with high magnification or anything in between. Here are first tests with the chips I had already opened:

Intel Pentium (P54C, 600 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Intel_Pentium_P54C_die.jpg

IDT R4600 (Orion, 650 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/IDT_R4600_die.jpg

Intel 80287:

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Intel_80287_die.jpg

These are just first tests with low magnification. There are two incandescent lights with adjustable positions, so I'll experiment with different lighting later. I'll also look at smaller details later and may even try stitching some high-res die shots.

I found out that I can use a great microscope at the university and take die shots easily. Thus, the challenge is now to get more dies that I can put under that microscope. I'll try to depack and delayer some plastic and FCBGA packages so that I can take more die shots.

I've also uploaded my die shots to Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/97377381@N03/sets/72157634094135040/, so you can easily find them all there.

[Vlasta]

Wow these are so cool.

I tried some macro shots with my DSLR and some macro extension tubes to get a good magnification. I got the dies into nice focus and then hit the shoot button. The result is blurred.... could it be that the act of even pressing the button is shaking the camera and de-focusing it? I even tried it on a timer so maybe even the shutter/mirror moving is shaking the camera? Frustrated... I have so many nice dies to take shots of and no way of achieving it without buying a microscope that costs like $500 or more.

[Birdman.]

At least all DSLR macro setups I've seen with extension tubes and high magnifications for die shots have the camera firmly attached directly above the die. Maybe taking die shots with DSLR isn't even possible at all without the camera firmly attached because the high magnification also magnifies all the camera movements. Of course, adding a lot more light onto the die should also help.

Or have you tried keeping the camera on a table and using some holder to keep the wafer in exactly right angle in front of the camera? Maybe that setup could work as well and be easier to make, but getting the right angle for wafer may be a bit difficult. Anyway, looks like you're really close to getting high-quality die shots, so just keep trying with the camera attached better.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I once again updated the first die shots because a better camera captured quite a lot more detail through the stereo microscope and gave me better image quality.

[Birdman.]

I took some new die shots still with the stereo microscope of the material science department, but this time using my 14 Mpix IXUS on one eyepiece instead of the 5 Mpix camera built into the microscope. This was not so easy because I had to keep the camera in exactly the right spot to get even lighting and focus, but in the end it gave me more resolution and revealed new details more than I expected.

I replaced the three previous die shots with the new higher resolution versions, and here are die shots of a couple other CPUs I got after taking the previous die shots:

AMD Am486 DX4 (Enhanced version with 8 KiB write-back cache, 500 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/AMD_80486DX4_die.JPG

DEC Alpha 21164 (EV5, 500 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Alpha_EV5_die.JPG

I hope you enjoy these die shots with more detail visible than before. I really hope that I could somehow get some more chips so that I can continue taking these kind of die shots. Thus, please let me know if you have some damaged or just unnecessary chips and would like to see die shots of them.

[Vlasta]

Wow - can you post the make and model number of the 'scope?

[Birdman.]

The scope is some pretty large surface light stereo microscope made by Leica, but I don't know the exact model yet. I've just been too busy taking die shots with it so that I haven't had the time to look at the scope. The Leica DFC420 in the EXIF data of the first die shots is just the camera in the microscope, but I didn't use it anymore for the new die shots because my IXUS gives better resolution. I'll let you know the exact model when I remember to check it.

Anyway, the scope seems to work great when taking die shots. It has continuous range of magnifications so that even the largest dies fit into the view and I can zoom all the way to fill the view with small dies like that 80287. Then there is also another objective that should give a lot higher magnifications, but I haven't tested looking at the details with it yet. There are two incandescent lights with adjustable positions and I have adjusted them to give oblique light from two sides (only one light used for Alpha die shot).

[johnorun]

Wow- Your die pics have the best resolution I've seen so far.

[Birdman.]

[Birdman.]

I got a couple more chips opened, so here are die shots of them taken with the same method as previous ones:

NEC VR4400MC (200 MHz version, 350 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/NEC_VR4400_die.JPG

Intel 80286 (8 MHz version, 1500 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Intel_80286_die.JPG

I also tested the same microscope with a couple windowed chips that are one new EPROM chip I happened to find and the 8742 microcontroller to compare to the other microscope:

Fujitsu MBL8742H (Intel 8742 EPROM-microcontroller in MCS-48 series):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Fujitsu_MBL8742H_die_shot.JPG

Texas Instruments TMS27C512 (512 kbit EPROM):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/TI_TMS27C512_die.JPG

Looks like the windows of these chips cause some shape, focus and other image quality problems. However, I think they aren't so bad that I should open the chips for better quality.

I hope you enjoy these new die shots and I'd like to take more of them if I only had more chips.

BTW, the microscope I'm using to take these die shots has Leica MZ75 written in the body and it has some extra equipment like two objectives (I've only used 0.5x one so far, the other is 2.0x), camera (Leica DFC420) and lighting.

[CPUShack]

VERY VERY nice

[Birdman.]

I have found some new chips and took die shots of them with the same method as before:

NEC VR5000 (150 MHz version, 350 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/NEC_VR5000_die.JPG

AMD Am486 DX2 (66 MHz version with 8 KiB write-through cache, 700 nm):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/AMD_80486DX2_die.jpg

NEC D8749HD (EPROM-microcontroller in MCS-48 series):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/NEC_D8749HD_die.JPG

Inmos IMSG171S (color look-up table used in 80286 PC):

Original resolution: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Inmos_IMSG171S_die.JPG

The IMSG171S has smaller die than others I've photographed before, so the result is not so sharp with the low magnification objective. I've also post processed the previous set a bit to try to fix some problems there.

I hope you enjoy these and I'd like to find or get more chips for die photography.

[CPUShack]

I like the coloring you are getting from your lighting