Destructive  Physical  Analysis
Package Decapsulation:  A combination of mechanical milling, chemical removal (i.e. fuming red nitric to dissolve epoxy package) and plasma etching is used to open device packages for analysis, while keeping the internal semiconductor die functional.	IC Opened for Internal Inspection
Stained IC Silicon Surface after Stripback	Die Sequential Stripback:  The passivation, conduction and oxide layers of semiconductors are removed sequentially by a combination of chemical, HF etch to remove PSG passivation and plasma etching, Fluorine + plasma to remove silicon nitride passivation, to reveal device anomalies and electrical overstress damage.
Chemical Staining & Etching:  Failure artifacts are highlighted with selective etching of the silicon die following sequential strip back.  Chemical staining reveals the diffusion differences in semiconductor die.	Silicon Etched to Delineate Transistor EOS
Cross-Sectioned Diode showing Defect	Cross Sectioning:  Sanding and polishing exposes the internal construction of components, semiconductors and PCBs.  Combined with chemical etching, the internal diffusions of semiconductors and metallurgical composition are revealed.  Geometric magnification, provided by angle lapping, enables analysis of thin plating, gold flash and semiconductor layers.