Advanced packaging has long been treated as an extension of process development, where learning loops and characterization drove early adoption. As the technology matures and moves into high-volume manufacturing, the emphasis is shifting toward production control—monitoring, controlling, and ensuring yield in a repeatable way.
This transition has direct implications for test and characterization. Traditional test flows designed for monolithic chips may not capture the failure modes introduced by heterogeneous integration, fine-pitch interconnects, and stacked dies. The industry needs new methods to detect and isolate defects that occur during assembly and packaging, not just during front-end fabrication.
The article from Semiconductor Engineering highlights that the shift requires a closer link between process data and test data. Inline metrology, real-time monitoring, and advanced analytics become essential to move from reactive failure analysis to proactive process control. This is not just a test challenge but a broader manufacturing strategy.