15 Research Lab › Silicon lane
Bayview, San Francisco
Wire bonding and failure analysis.
$30 to $80 per chip, decap from $75
Between a university cleanroom you need badge access to enter and an OSAT that will not quote under a few thousand dollars in lot minimums, there is nothing. If you have eleven die and a question, nobody wants your business. This lane is that gap.
What you get
Wire bonding and packaging at $30 to $80 per chip. Priced per part, not per lot. Eleven die is a job.
Decapsulation from $75. Open the package, get to the die, photograph it.
Cross-sectioning and die-level failure analysis. When a part fails in the field and the vendor says it is your board, this is how you find out who is right.
Lock-in thermography pairs with decap to localise a short before you cut anything.
What it replaces
University shops charge roughly $31 to $80 an hour, which is reasonable, but the price is not the barrier. Access is. You need an affiliation, a badge, a sponsoring PI and a slot.
Commercial OSAT vendors are set up for production. Lot minimums run from about $1,500 to $5,000 and lead times are measured in weeks. That is correct for a product launch and absurd for a diagnosis.
What does not exist in this city is somebody who will bond a handful of die this week at a posted per-chip rate.
How it works
Send the parts and tell us what you need to know. You get the bonded or opened parts back plus die photographs and a written finding. If the answer is that the die is fine and the problem is your board, you get told that.
The counter is not open yet. Prices are posted in advance and held at opening.
Common questions
What is the minimum quantity for wire bonding?
There is no minimum. Pricing is $30 to $80 per chip, so a job of ten die costs what ten die cost. This is the main difference from an OSAT, which typically will not quote below a lot minimum of one to five thousand dollars.
Can you decap a chip without destroying the die?
Yes. Decapsulation from $75 opens the package and exposes the die for imaging and probing. Whether the part still functions afterward depends on the package and the method, and you are told which applies before the work starts.
How long does die-level failure analysis take?
Same week for straightforward decap and imaging. Cross-sectioning and a written root-cause finding take longer, and you get an estimate before anything is cut.
Waitlist
The counter opens when funding closes. Prices are posted in advance and held at opening.