IEEE/CPMT Dinner Meeting:

"THE CURRENT AND FUTURE ROLE OF FAILURE ANALYSIS" --
Eugene Hnatek, Compaq Computer Corp., Tandem Product Evaluation Center

Wednesday, September 9, 1998
Subsidized buffet dinner ($10) served at 6:30, Presentation (no cost) at 7:30.
Location: FAZ restaurant, at the Four Points Hotel, on Mathilda, north of Hiway 237 and Fwy 101 junction, Sunnyvale
PLEASE RSVP (for dinner and/or meeting) by email to Rena Ayeras, or call our CPMT hotline at 800-686-9366.

OVERVIEW:
No company makes perfect ICs. IC manufacturers must work within the confines of design, processing, packaging, materials, computer modeling and testing limitations, as well as time-to-market and cost considerations. As a result, errors, defects, materials incompatibilities and failure mechanisms exist to some extent in all ICs.

The analysis of today's IC and packaging technologies is based on well developed tools and methods. However, the challenge posed by ICs with more than 1 billion transistors, feature sizes less than 0.2 micron, clock frequencies in excess of 1 GHz and power dissipation approaching 100W requires that new failure analysis techniques be developed. These new methods include greater reliance on die backside methods, software tools for fault isolation, and electrical test diagnosis and localization techniques. There is a critical need not only for rapid improvement of existing diagnosis and failure analysis capabilities but for the implementation of real time analytical techniques not found in conventional production facilities.

This talk provides an overview of the need for and the role of failure analysis in the IC industry and summarizes some of the issues involved and challenges faced in conducting a failure analysis for deep sub-micron ICs as the SIA NTRS becomes a reality.

About the Speaker:
Eugene Hnatek has worked in various aspects of IC fabrication, contamination control, assembly, electrical test, statistical process/parameter monitoring, identification of failure mechanisms, and developing and applying appropriate screening criteria. Before accepting his current assignment as Director of Tandem Computer's Product Evaluation Center, he was manager of Component Engineering at Tandem (now a division of Compaq Computer Corp.). Mr. Hnatek's previous work experience includes assignments at Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, National Semiconductor, Monolithic Memories, Viking Laboratories and Honeywell. He is a member of the technical program committee for the International Test Conference (ITC) and is the 1998 chairman of the Computer Industry Quality Conference (CIQC).