Degradation Reliability And Failure Of Semiconductor Electronic Devices

We show how defects in semiconductor device structures are formed, how they can affect the properties and reliability of devices, and how they might be avoided. Examples will be drawn from wide band gap semiconductor materials and devices we have fabricated in-house or examined for DARPA, collaborators in the P & E CTA, a power electronics MTO, or an SBIR.

Reliability and Failure of Electronic Materials and Devices is a well-established and well-regarded reference work offering unique, single-source coverage of most major topics related to the performance and failure of materials used in electronic devices and electronics packaging. With a focus on statistically predicting failure and product yields, this book can help the design engineer, manufacturing engineer, and quality control engineer all better understand the common mechanisms that lead to electronics materials failures, including dielectric breakdown, hot-electron effects, and radiation damage. This new edition adds cutting-edge knowledge gained both in research labs and on the manufacturing floor, with new sections on plastics and other new packaging materials, new testing procedures, and new coverage of MEMS devices. Covers all major types of electronics materials degradation and their causes, including dielectric breakdown, hot-electron effects, electrostatic discharge, corrosion, and failure of contacts and solder joints New updated sections on "failure physics," on mass transport-induced failure in copper and low-k dielectrics, and on reliability of lead-free/reduced-lead solder connections New chapter on testing procedures, sample handling and sample selection, and experimental design Coverage of new packaging materials, including plastics and composites

This publication is a compilation of papers presented at the Semiconductor Device Reliabi lity Workshop sponsored by the NATO International Scientific Exchange Program. The Workshop was held in Crete, Greece from June 4 to June 9, 1989. The objective of the Workshop was to review and to further explore advances in the field of semiconductor reliability through invited paper presentations and discussions. The technical emphasis was on quality assurance and reliability of optoelectronic and high speed semiconductor devices. The primary support for the meeting was provided by the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO. We are indebted to NATO for their support and to Dr. Craig Sinclair, who admin isters this program. The chapters of this book follow the format and order of the sessions of the meeting. Thirty-six papers were presented and discussed during the five-day Workshop. In addi tion, two panel sessions were held, with audience participation, where the particularly controversial topics of bum-in and reliability modeling and prediction methods were dis cussed. A brief review of these sessions is presented in this book.

Materials and Reliability Handbook for Semiconductor Optical and Electron Devices provides comprehensive coverage of reliability procedures and approaches for electron and photonic devices. These include lasers and high speed electronics used in cell phones, satellites, data transmission systems and displays. Lifetime predictions for compound semiconductor devices are notoriously inaccurate due to the absence of standard protocols. Manufacturers have relied on extrapolation back to room temperature of accelerated testing at elevated temperature. This technique fails for scaled, high current density devices. Device failure is driven by electric field or current mechanisms or low activation energy processes that are masked by other mechanisms at high temperature. The Handbook addresses reliability engineering for III-V devices, including materials and electrical characterization, reliability testing, and electronic characterization. These are used to develop new simulation technologies for device operation and reliability, which allow accurate prediction of reliability as well as the design specifically for improved reliability. The Handbook emphasizes physical mechanisms rather than an electrical definition of reliability. Accelerated aging is useful only if the failure mechanism is known. The Handbook also focuses on voltage and current acceleration stress mechanisms.

Achieving cost-effective performance over time requires an organized, disciplined, and time-phased approach to product design, development, qualification, manufacture, and in-service management. Guidebook for Managing Silicon Chip Reliability examines the principal failure mechanisms associated with modern integrated circuits and describes common practices used to resolve them. This quick reference on semiconductor reliability addresses the key question: How will the understanding of failure mechanisms affect the future? Chapters discuss: failure sites, operational loads, and failure mechanism intrinsic device sensitivities electromigration hot carrier aging time dependent dielectric breakdown mechanical stress induced migration alpha particle sensitivity electrostatic discharge (ESD) and electrical overstress latch-up qualification screening guidelines for designing reliability Guidebook for Managing Silicon Chip Reliability focuses on device failure and causes throughout - providing a thorough framework on how to model the mechanism, test for defects, and avoid and manage damage. It will serve as an exceptional resource for electrical engineers as well as mechanical engineers working in the field of electronic packaging.

Failure analysis is the preferred method to investigate product or process reliability and to ensure optimum performance of electrical components and systems. The physics-of-failure approach is the only internationally accepted solution for continuously improving the reliability of materials, devices and processes. The models have been developed from the physical and chemical phenomena that are responsible for degradation or failure of electronic components and materials and now replace popular distribution models for failure mechanisms such as Weibull or lognormal. Reliability engineers need practical orientation around the complex procedures involved in failure analysis. This guide acts as a tool for all advanced techniques, their benefits and vital aspects of their use in a reliability programme. Using twelve complex case studies, the authors explain why failure analysis should be used with electronic components, when implementation is appropriate and methods for its successful use. Inside you will find detailed coverage on: a synergistic approach to failure modes and mechanisms, along with reliability physics and the failure analysis of materials, emphasizing the vital importance of cooperation between a product development team involved the reasons why failure analysis is an important tool for improving yield and reliability by corrective actions the design stage, highlighting the ‘concurrent engineering' approach and DfR (Design for Reliability) failure analysis during fabrication, covering reliability monitoring, process monitors and package reliability reliability resting after fabrication, including reliability assessment at this stage and corrective actions a large variety of methods, such as electrical methods, thermal methods, optical methods, electron microscopy, mechanical methods, X-Ray methods, spectroscopic, acoustical, and laser methods new challenges in reliability testing, such as its use in microsystems and nanostructures This practical yet comprehensive reference is useful for manufacturers and engineers involved in the design, fabrication and testing of electronic components, devices, ICs and electronic systems, as well as for users of components in complex systems wanting to discover the roots of the reliability flaws for their products.

This book provides readers with a variety of tools to address the challenges posed by hot carrier degradation, one of today’s most complicated reliability issues in semiconductor devices. Coverage includes an explanation of carrier transport within devices and book-keeping of how they acquire energy (“become hot”), interaction of an ensemble of colder and hotter carriers with defect precursors, which eventually leads to the creation of a defect, and a description of how these defects interact with the device, degrading its performance.

Reliability of Semiconductor Lasers and Optoelectronic Devices simplifies complex concepts of optoelectronics reliability with approachable introductory chapters and a focus on real-world applications. This book provides a brief look at the fundamentals of laser diodes, introduces reliability qualification, and then presents real-world case studies discussing the principles of reliability and what occurs when these rules are broken. Then this book comprehensively looks at optoelectronics devices and the defects that cause premature failure in them and how to control those defects. Key materials and devices are reviewed including silicon photonics, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), InGaN LEDs and lasers, and AlGaN LEDs, covering the majority of optoelectronic devices that we use in our everyday lives, powering the Internet, telecommunication, solid-state lighting, illuminators, and many other applications. This book features contributions from experts in industry and academia working in these areas and includes numerous practical examples and case studies. This book is suitable for new entrants to the field of optoelectronics working in R&D. • Includes case studies and numerous examples showing best practices and common mistakes affecting optoelectronics reliability written by experts working in the industry • Features the first wide-ranging and comprehensive overview of fiber optics reliability engineering, covering all elements of the practice from building a reliability laboratory, qualifying new products, to improving reliability on mature products. • Provides a look at the reliability issues and failure mechanisms for silicon photonics, VCSELs, InGaN LEDs and lasers, AIGaN LEDs, and more.