Accelerated life tests (ALTs) are aimed at revealing and understanding the physics of the expected or occurred failures, i.e., are able to detect the possible failure modes and mechanisms. Another objective of the ALTs is to accumulate representative failure statistics. Adequately designed, carefully conducted, and properly interpreted ALTs provide a consistent basis for obtaining the ultimate information of the reliability of a product—the predicted probability of failure after the given time of service in the given conditions. Such tests can dramatically facilitate the solution to the cost effectiveness and time-to-market problems. ALTs should play an important role in the evaluation, prediction and assurance of the reliability of microelectronics and optoelectronics devices and systems. In the majority of cases, ALTs should be conducted in addition to the qualification tests required by the existing standards. There might also be situations when ALTs can be (and, probably, should be) used as an effective substitution for such standards, or, at least, as the basis for the improvement of the existing qualification specifications. We describe different types (categories) of accelerated tests, with an emphasis on the role that ALTs should play in the development, design, qualification, and manufacturing of microelectronics and photonics products. We discuss the challenges associated with the implementation and use of the ALTs, potential pitfalls (primarily those associated with possible “shifts” in the mechanisms and modes of failure), and the interaction of the ALTs with other types of accelerated tests. The role of the nondestructive evaluations is also briefly outlined. The case of a laser welded optoelectronic package assembly is used to illustrate some concepts addressed.  “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better”  Ralph Waldo Emerson  “In the long run we are all dead”  John Maynard Keynes

Issue Section:
Papers on Reliability
Keywords:
reliability, life testing, failure analysis, packaging
Topics:
Failure, Failure mechanisms, Lasers, Life testing, Probability, Reliability, Stress, Temperature, Design, Microelectronic devices, Photonics, Manufacturing
1.
Suhir, E., 1997, Applied Probability for Engineers and Scientists, McGraw-Hill, NY.
2.
Di Giacomo, G., 1997, Reliability of Electronic Packages and Semiconductor Devices, McGraw-Hill, New York.
3.
Fukuda, M., 1991, Reliability and Degradation of Semiconductor Lasers and LEDs, Artech House.
4.
Svelto, O., and Hanna, D. C., 1998, Principles of Lasers, Plenum, NY.
5.
“High-Speed Semiconductor Lasers for Communication,” 1997, Proc. of the SPIE, Vol. 3038.
6.
Suhir, E., Fukuda, M., Kurkjian, C. R., eds., 1998, “Reliability of Photonic Materials and Structures,” Materials Research Society Symposia Proceedings, Vol. 531.
7.
Suhir, E., Cammarata, R. C., Chung, D. D. L., and Jono, M., 1991, “Mechanical Behavior of Materials and Structures in Microelectronics,” Materials Research Society Symposia Proceedings, Vol. 226.
8.
Katz, A., Pecht, M., and Suhir, E., 2000, “Accelerated Testing in Microelectronics: Review, Pitfalls and New Developments,” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Microelectronics and Packaging, IMAPS, Israel.
9.
Suhir
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E.
,
2000
, “
Microelectronics and Photonics—the Future
,”
Microelectronics
,
31
, (11)-12.
1.
Suhir, E., and Poborets, B., 1990, “Solder Glass Attachment in Cerdip/Cerquad Packages: Thermally Induced Stresses and Mechanical Reliability,” Proc. of the 40th Elect. Comp. and Techn. Conf., Las Vegas, Nevada, May 1990; see also:
2.
ASME J. Electron. Packag., 112(2).
1.
Suhir
,
E.
,
1989
, “
Analytical Modeling in Structural Analysis for Electronic Packaging: Its Merits, Shortcomings and Interaction with Experimental and Numerical Techniques
,”
ASME J. Electron. Packag.
,
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(2), June.
2.
Suhir, E., 2001, “Thermomechanical Stress Modeling in Microelectronics and Photonics,” Electronic Cooling, 7(4).
3.
Hawkins, B. M., Hawthorne, R. A. III, Guenter, J. K., Tatum, J. A., and Biard, J. R., 2002, “Reliability of Various Size Oxide Aperture VCSELS,” 52-nd ECTC, San Diego, CA.
4.
ASM Committee on Laser Welding, Metals Handbook, Ed. 9, Vol. 6, pp. 647–671.
5.
Jellison, J. L., 1991, “Fundamentals of Metals Joining with Lasers,” Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, NTIS, DE92000789.
6.
Rangwala, S., 1990, “A Study of Forces and Motion Generated During Pulsed Laser Welding of Optical Packages,” ASME Winter Annual Meeting, 90-WA/EEP-24.
7.
Suhir, E., 2001, “Device and Method of Controlling the Bowing of a Soldered or Adhesively Bonded Assembly,” US Patent #6,239,382.
Copyright © 2002
 by ASME
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