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High-temperature Operating Life
High-temperature operating life (HTOL) is a reliability test applied to integrated circuits (ICs) to determine their intrinsic reliability. This test stresses the IC at an elevated temperature, high voltage and dynamic operation for a predefined period of time. The IC is usually monitored under stress and tested at intermediate intervals. This reliability stress test is sometimes referred to as a "lifetime test", "device life test" or "extended burn in test" and is used to trigger potential failure modes and assess IC lifetime. There are several types of HTOL: * AEC Documents. * JEDEC Standards. * Mil standards.Mil standard Design considerations The main aim of the HTOL is to age the device such that a short experiment will allow the lifetime of the IC to be predicted (e.g. 1,000 HTOL hours shall pre ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integrated Circuits
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors) integrate into a small chip. This results in circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete electronic components. The IC's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to integrated circuit design has ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. ICs are now used in virtually all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones and other home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size and low cost of ICs such as modern compute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trimmer (electronics)
A trimmer, or preset, is a miniature adjustable electrical component. It is meant to be set correctly when installed in some device, and never seen or adjusted by the device's user. Trimmers can be variable resistors (potentiometers), variable capacitors, or trimmable inductors. They are common in precision circuitry like Audiovisual, A/V components, and may need to be adjusted when the equipment is serviced. Trimpots are often used to initially calibrate equipment after manufacturing. Unlike many other variable controls, trimmers are mounted directly on circuit boards, turned with a small screwdriver and rated for many fewer adjustments over their lifetime. Trimmers like trimmable inductors and trimmable capacitors are usually found in superhet radio and television receivers, in the intermediate frequency (IF), oscillator and radio frequency (RF) circuits. They are adjusted into the right position during the alignment procedure of the receiver. General considerations Trimmers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reliability (semiconductor)
Reliability of semiconductor devices can be summarized as follows: # Semiconductor devices are very sensitive to impurities and particles. Therefore, to manufacture these devices it is necessary to manage many processes while accurately controlling the level of impurities and particles. The finished product quality depends upon the many layered relationship of each interacting substance in the semiconductor, including metallization, chip material (list of semiconductor materials) and package. # The problems of micro-processes, and thin films and must be fully understood as they apply to metallization and wire bonding. It is also necessary to analyze surface phenomena from the aspect of thin films. # Due to the rapid advances in technology, many new devices are developed using new materials and processes, and design calendar time is limited due to non-recurring engineering constraints, plus time to market concerns. Consequently, it is not possible to base new designs on the reliabil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stress Migration
Stress migration is a failure mechanism that often occurs in integrated circuit metallization (aluminum, copper). Voids form as result of vacancy migration driven by the hydrostatic Fluid statics or hydrostatics is the branch of fluid mechanics that studies the condition of the equilibrium of a floating body and submerged body "fluids at hydrostatic equilibrium and the pressure in a fluid, or exerted by a fluid, on an imme ... stress gradient. Large voids may lead to open circuit or unacceptable resistance increase that impedes the IC performance. 'Stress migration is often referred as stress voiding, stress induced voiding or SIV. High temperature processing of copper dual damascene structures leaves the copper with a large tensile stress due to a mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion of the materials involved. The stress can relax with time through the diffusion of vacancies leading to the formation of voids and ultimately open circuit failures.Stress Migration and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transistor Aging
Transistor aging (sometimes called silicon aging) is the process of silicon transistors developing flaws over time as they are used, degrading performance and reliability, and eventually failing altogether. Despite the name, similar mechanisms may affect transistors made of any kind of semiconductor. Manufacturers compensate for this (as well as manufacturing defects) by running chips at slower speeds than they are initially capable of. Causes The main causes of transistor aging in MOSFETs are ''electromigration'' and ''charge trapping''. Electromigration is the movement of ions caused by momentum from the transfer of electrons in the conductor. This results in degradation of the material, causing intermittent glitches that are very difficult to diagnose, and eventual failure. Charge trapping is related to time-dependent gate oxide breakdown, and manifests as an increase in resistance and threshold voltage (the voltage needed for the transistor to conduct), and a decrease in dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highly Accelerated Stress Test
The highly accelerated stress test (HAST) method was first proposed by Jeffrey E. Gunn, Sushil K. Malik, and Purabi M. Mazumdar of IBM. The acceleration factor for elevated humidity is empirically derived to be :AF_\text = e^, :\text is a value which normally goes from 0.1 to 0.15 where ''RH''s is the stressed humidity, ''RH''o is the operating-environment humidity, and ''n'' is an empirically derived constant (usually 1 < ''n'' < 5). The acceleration factor for elevated temperature is derived to be : where ''E''a is the activation energy for the temperature-induced failure (most often 0.7 eV for electronics), ''k'' is the , ''T''o is the |
Sampling (statistics)
In statistics, quality assurance, and survey methodology, sampling is the selection of a subset (a statistical sample) of individuals from within a statistical population to estimate characteristics of the whole population. Statisticians attempt to collect samples that are representative of the population in question. Sampling has lower costs and faster data collection than measuring the entire population and can provide insights in cases where it is infeasible to measure an entire population. Each observation measures one or more properties (such as weight, location, colour or mass) of independent objects or individuals. In survey sampling, weights can be applied to the data to adjust for the sample design, particularly in stratified sampling. Results from probability theory and statistical theory are employed to guide the practice. In business and medical research, sampling is widely used for gathering information about a population. Acceptance sampling is used to determine if ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Activation Energy
In chemistry and physics, activation energy is the minimum amount of energy that must be provided for compounds to result in a chemical reaction. The activation energy (''E''a) of a reaction is measured in joules per mole (J/mol), kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol) or kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol). Activation energy can be thought of as the magnitude of the potential barrier (sometimes called the energy barrier) separating minima of the potential energy surface pertaining to the initial and final thermodynamic state. For a chemical reaction to proceed at a reasonable rate, the temperature of the system should be high enough such that there exists an appreciable number of molecules with translational energy equal to or greater than the activation energy. The term "activation energy" was introduced in 1889 by the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius. Other uses Although less commonly used, activation energy also applies to nuclear reactions and various other physical phenomena. Te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arrhenius Equation
In physical chemistry, the Arrhenius equation is a formula for the temperature dependence of reaction rates. The equation was proposed by Svante Arrhenius in 1889, based on the work of Dutch chemist Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff who had noted in 1884 that the van 't Hoff equation for the temperature dependence of equilibrium constants suggests such a formula for the rates of both forward and reverse reactions. This equation has a vast and important application in determining the rate of chemical reactions and for calculation of energy of activation. Arrhenius provided a physical justification and interpretation for the formula. Laidler, K. J. (1987) ''Chemical Kinetics'', Third Edition, Harper & Row, p. 42 Currently, it is best seen as an empirical relationship.Kenneth Connors, Chemical Kinetics, 1990, VCH Publishers It can be used to model the temperature variation of diffusion coefficients, population of crystal vacancies, creep rates, and many other thermally-induced processes/r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Failure Analysis
Failure analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing data to determine the cause of a failure, often with the goal of determining corrective actions or liability. According to Bloch and Geitner, ”machinery failures reveal a reaction chain of cause and effect… usually a deficiency commonly referred to as the symptom…”. failure analysis can save money, lives, and resources if done correctly and acted upon. It is an important discipline in many branches of manufacturing industry, such as the electronics industry, where it is a vital tool used in the development of new products and for the improvement of existing products. The failure analysis process relies on collecting failed components for subsequent examination of the cause or causes of failure using a wide array of methods, especially microscopy and spectroscopy. Nondestructive testing (NDT) methods (such as industrial computed tomography scanning) are valuable because the failed products are unaffected by analysis, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boundary Scan
Boundary scan is a method for testing interconnects (wire lines) on printed circuit boards or sub-blocks inside an integrated circuit. Boundary scan is also widely used as a debugging method to watch integrated circuit pin states, measure voltage, or analyze sub-blocks inside an integrated circuit. The Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) developed a specification for boundary scan testing that was standardized in 1990 as the IEEE Std. 1149.1-1990. In 1994, a supplement that contains a description of the Boundary Scan Description Language (BSDL) was added which describes the boundary-scan logic content of IEEE Std 1149.1 compliant devices. Since then, this standard has been adopted by electronic device companies all over the world. Boundary scan is now mostly synonymous with JTAG.IEEE Std 1149.1 (JTAG) Testability Primer [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IC Power Supply Pin
IC power-supply pins denote a voltage and current supply terminals in electric, electronics engineering, and in Integrated circuit design. Integrated circuits (ICs) have at least two pins that connect to the power rails of the circuit in which they are installed. These are known as the power-supply pins. However, the labeling of the pins varies by IC family and manufacturer. The double subscript notation usually corresponds to a first letter in a given IC family (transistors) notation of the terminals (e.g. VDD supply for a drain terminal in FETs etc.). The simplest labels are V+ and V−, but internal design and historical traditions have led to a variety of other labels being used. V+ and V− may also refer to the non-inverting (+) and inverting (−) voltage inputs of ICs like op amps. For power supplies, sometimes one of the supply rails is referred to as ground (abbreviated "GND") positive and negative voltages are relative to the ground. In digital electronics, negat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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