Date   : Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:46:17 +0100
From   : philpem@... (Philip Pemberton)
Subject: Reversing the Tube ULA (destructively)

On Tue, 2010-10-26 at 00:14 +0100, Theo Markettos wrote:
> We[1] have suitable microscopes, though fuming nitric acid is Frowned Upon
> by the university health and safety people and I'm not trained with it.  But
> if anyone can do the depackaging (and I can tell you what to do) then I can
> image it.

It might be worth sending a chip to one of the professional decapping
services, like MEFAS:
  http://www.mefas.com/

Last time I checked, the price was about $50 for a "functional
decapsulation", plus a little more if you wanted the chip preparing for
optical inspection.

Other companies appear to offer this service too:
http://www.crownhillmobile.com/IC_De_Cap.htm (these guys appear to be
based in the UK)
http://www.siliconcert.com/decap.htm
http://www.soldertec.com/POOLED/ARTICLES/BF_PSART/VIEW.ASP?Q=BF_PSART_304870&gclid=COLAx_uh76QCFchH4wodSzoNvg
http://www.icchippackaging.com/HTML/services/decap.html


-- 
Phil.
philpem@...          
http://www.philpem.me.uk/