Many of us have a stereo microscope for soldering SMD, and the first idea comes to use that to inspect silicon chips and transistors to make sure it is not fake and the same version of what you are looking for. However, the result is always awful, and how can I see now, the reason is a coaxial light option which is unavoidable and needed to get perfect pics of silicon. The magnification factor nearly doesn't matter, my stereo Nikon SMZ660 has 300x max but still sucks due to LEDs light falling with not 90 degrees - glossy reflections ruining the picture contrast.
So, Is there any chance to get nice pics without $5000 Zeiss metallurgical microscope? Hell yeah, quite compact and within $100! First I bought a used VSZ-0530CO Japanese precision optical zoom device $53(with 12V coax LED!), it is a machine vision element massively used in China to control production parameters and measure dimensions. Vital Vision Technology promises a good resolution(4um) and minimal geometric distortions(.001) for the device, you need just add the C-mount CMOS camera 1/1.8"(from $30 for a secondhand) and 160mm RMS standard 4X lens aka objective(I paid $8 for used Canadian Motic EF plan 4X/0.1) with a thread adapter($4). The small like a book table + holder cost me $15, that's it. Check this out:
Low phase-noise EPSON_SG-210STF oscillator chip.
BC856B
AD8397 is a bit dirty with the residual plastic on the silicon.
Ti ISO7240
OPA1612 has such a tiny marking, the symbol's thickness is 4um, and the minimal visible elements are 1.5um. That pic taken with Motic 40X lens.
And a short video 30fps 400X, to see how that looks online.
So, Is there any chance to get nice pics without $5000 Zeiss metallurgical microscope? Hell yeah, quite compact and within $100! First I bought a used VSZ-0530CO Japanese precision optical zoom device $53(with 12V coax LED!), it is a machine vision element massively used in China to control production parameters and measure dimensions. Vital Vision Technology promises a good resolution(4um) and minimal geometric distortions(.001) for the device, you need just add the C-mount CMOS camera 1/1.8"(from $30 for a secondhand) and 160mm RMS standard 4X lens aka objective(I paid $8 for used Canadian Motic EF plan 4X/0.1) with a thread adapter($4). The small like a book table + holder cost me $15, that's it. Check this out:
Low phase-noise EPSON_SG-210STF oscillator chip.
BC856B
AD8397 is a bit dirty with the residual plastic on the silicon.
Ti ISO7240
OPA1612 has such a tiny marking, the symbol's thickness is 4um, and the minimal visible elements are 1.5um. That pic taken with Motic 40X lens.
And a short video 30fps 400X, to see how that looks online.
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Those are quite nice! There's a guy, Noopy, over on EEVBlog that posts some good die pics and has a DIY guide using various methods. I was surprised at how much focus stacking is needed for some of the shots. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/transistors-die-pictures/
I burned the plastic on the kitchen propane fire. No extra cleaning only a soft eraser. Some chips are clear enough after that, but some still need extra cleaning. As I remember from the NXP report(we had the case when 20K mosfets were returned), the plastic compound was resolved with hot H2SO4.
BTW, I found a similar optical device from the same Japanese company with specified resolution and distortions but with no zoom, just fixed optical mag-ratio. I see that pipe with the coax-LED cost is ridiculously cheap 50RMB i.e. $7.. I have no doubt it should work too.
BTW, I found a similar optical device from the same Japanese company with specified resolution and distortions but with no zoom, just fixed optical mag-ratio. I see that pipe with the coax-LED cost is ridiculously cheap 50RMB i.e. $7.. I have no doubt it should work too.