Field Triage of Semiconductor EOS Failures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for screening semiconductor devices for functionality are costly and inefficient, particularly when defects occur in field locations remote from manufacturers, requiring expensive equipment and time-consuming tests, and often result in unnecessary returns of functional devices.
Innovation Solution
A testing system that uses automated software-controlled procedures to test semiconductor integrated circuits, particularly high pin count devices, by characterizing individual pins or groups of pins to detect and diagnose failures, enabling immediate frontline testing in the field, reducing manual errors, and allowing for electronic data storage and remote analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If wafer sort and final packaged testing are performed using sophisticated capital equipment, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the core testing functionality from complex capital equipment and implements it as a simplified field test system. The system uses basic test equipment that can be deployed at customer sites rather than requiring sophisticated wafer sort or final packaged testing equipment, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining essential measurement capabilities for detecting opens and shorts on pins.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs inexpensive field test equipment that can be used for rapid screening without the need for expensive, sophisticated capital equipment. This approach accepts that the field test system is simpler and less comprehensive than factory testing equipment, but sufficient for identifying obvious failures in the field, thereby reducing overall system complexity and cost.
2Measurement precision
If suspect devices are shipped from field location back to manufacturer for evaluation, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary failure analysis by enabling field testing capabilities at customer sites. The field test system performs initial screening and characterization of suspect devices locally before they are shipped to the manufacturer. This preliminary action at the field location captures essential failure data immediately, eliminating the time delay associated with shipping devices back to the manufacturer while preserving the ability to conduct accurate failure analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces field test equipment as an intermediary between the customer's field location and the manufacturer's laboratory. This intermediary system performs initial device evaluation and characterization locally, capturing failure data that would otherwise be lost during shipping. The field test system acts as a mediator that preserves measurement precision by performing tests at the field location while eliminating the time loss associated with device return shipping.
3Reliability
If comprehensive device testing is performed, then reliability is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by implementing a two-tier testing approach: comprehensive factory testing for all devices followed by rapid field screening for suspect devices only. The field test system performs targeted testing on specific pins or groups of pins that are suspected of failure, rather than conducting exhaustive testing on all devices. This partial testing approach maintains reliability by thoroughly testing all devices at the factory while improving productivity by rapidly screening only suspect devices in the field.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the testing process into factory-based comprehensive testing and field-based rapid screening. The field test system is designed to test individual pins or specific groups of pins rather than performing complete device characterization. This segmentation allows comprehensive reliability testing to occur at the factory using sophisticated equipment while enabling rapid productivity-focused screening at field locations using simplified equipment.
Data Source
AI summary
Automated test procedures, carried out under software control, can be employed to test a device, testing individual pins, and/or groups of pins, to detect and diagnose or characterize various types of failures. A distributed FA system includes a shared database for device definitions, test setups, and test results. Test platforms provide I/O curve tracing which can provide both a qualitative visual representation and a quantitative measured performance. The disclosed system enables and exploits front line testing of devices in the field. Response to the customer can be nearly immediate. Eliminate “false returns” by differentiation of use versus a real quality issue.