Using ML In Manufacturing


How to prevent early life failures by applying machine learning to different use cases, and how to interpret models for different tradeoffs on reliability. Jeff David, vice president of AI solutions at PDF Solutions, digs down into how to utilize data to improve reliability. » read more

Spreading Out The Cost At 3nm


The current model for semiconductor scaling doesn't add up. While it's possible that markets will consolidate around a few basic designs, the likelihood is that no single SoC will sell in enough volume to compensate for the increased cost of design, equipment, mask sets and significantly more testing and inspection. In fact, even with slew of derivative chips, it may not be enough to tip the ec... » read more

Probe Expertise For Cryogenic Devices


The promise of quantum computing to solve complex problems far beyond today’s supercomputer capabilities, plus the emergence of high performance image sensors for security, military, and health care use, and other emerging applications are driving the need for test and measurement tools that can operate in extreme low temperatures (below about -150°C down to a few degrees above absolute zero... » read more

Sensors, Data And Machine Learning


Strategies for building reliability into chips and systems are beginning to shift as more sensors are added into these devices and machine learning is applied to that data. In the past, system monitoring relied heavily on MEMS devices for things like acceleration, temperature and positioning (gyroscopes). While those devices are still important, in the past couple years there has been an exp... » read more

Home Analysis Of STDF Data


STDF data files can be very large, often tens of megabytes, sometimes over a gigabyte for a single file. When you’re working from home and only have a desktop tool for analysis, you’ll have to download the data first from your work network. Even if the files are compressed first, they are still large and many times you would be required to analyze dozens of data files to really understand a... » read more

An Inside Look At Testing’s Leading Edge


Mike Slessor, president and CEO of FormFactor, sat down with Semiconductor Engineering to discuss testing of AI and 5G chips, and why getting power into a chip for testing is becoming more difficult at each new node. SE: How does test change with AI chips, where you've got massive numbers of accelerators and processors developed at 7 and 5nm? Slessor: A lot of the AI stuff that we've been... » read more

IC Test Solutions For The Automotive Market


The amount of electronic content in passenger cars continues to grow rapidly, driven mainly by the integration of various advanced safety features, which will increase further with the move towards fully autonomous vehicles. It is critical that these safety-related devices adhere to the highest possible quality and reliability requirements formalized in the ISO 26262 standard that is being rapi... » read more

Improving Test Coverage And Eliminating Test Ecapes Using Analog Defect Analysis


While the analog and mixed-signal components are the leading source of test escapes that result in field failures, the lack of tools to analyze the test coverage during design has made it difficult for designers to address the issue. In this white paper, we explore the methodology for performing analog fault simulation of test coverage based on defect-oriented testing. In addition, we look at h... » read more

Redefining Device Failures


Can a 5nm or 3nm chip really perform to spec over a couple decades? The answer is yes, but not using traditional approaches for designing, manufacturing or testing those chips. At the next few process nodes, all the workarounds and solutions that have been developed since 45nm don't necessarily apply. In the early finFET processes, for example, the new transistor structure provided a huge im... » read more

Reliability Challenges Grow For 5/3nm


Ensuring that chips will be reliable at 5nm and 3nm is becoming more difficult due to the introduction of new materials, new transistor structures, and the projected use of these chips in safety- and mission-critical applications. Each of these elements adds its own set of challenges, but they are being compounded by the fact that many of these chips will end up in advanced packages or modul... » read more

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