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Identical coursesReliability and Yield for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Components (B-KUL-H06E4A)
Aims
Engineering education is often oriented towards the design of new products and technologies. How products or technologies fail, the effects and the physics of failure and manufacturing aspects such as yield are often neglected.
The purpose of this course is to make future engineers aware of the growing importance of quality, reliability and manufacturing aspects in integrated electronic technology. Also, it is aimed to make the students familiar with basic concepts, tools and methods used in the field of reliability and yield. Finally, the role and the impact of defects in semiconductor technology are emphasized.
At the end of the course the students should have acquired the following knowledge and skills:
- the student is able to explain the basic concepts and definitions of reliability science, such as reliability, failure, failure mode, failure mechanism, intrinsic and extrinsic failures, failure rate, MTTF, bathtub-curve, …
- the student knows the basics of the mathematics and statistics of reliability science: cumulative failure functions, reliability function, failure density function, failure distributions such as exponential, Weibull, normal and lognormal, …
- the student is able to process failure data: ranking, censoring and fitting of failure data, use of maximum likelihood extraction for failure distributions, …
- the student knows the principles of accelerated reliability testing, screening, fatigues testing, …
- the student knows the basic concepts and definitions of yield in semiconductor manufacturing and yield models like Poisson yield, Murphy yield, Seeds yield and Gamma yield
- the student understands the elements that cause yield loss, such as design, process and defect related effects and can make yield analysis
- the student has obtained insight in the relationship between yield and early failure reliability and the relation with latent defects
- the student has obtained a thorough knowledge of one of the 5 classes of failure mechanisms in micro- and nano-electronic technologies: A) Oxide failure mechanisms, B) Time-Dependent-Dielectric-Breakdown, C) Mass transport failure mechanisms, D) Electrostatic discharge and E) Variability and reliability of VLSI technologies
Previous knowledge
Necessary basics are offered in the introductory courses H08T5A Electronic Components, Circuits and Sensors, H06F2A Semiconductor Physics and H06F0B Semiconductor Devices
The course builds further on the courses H06F0B Semiconductor Devices, H06G4A Materials Physics and Technology for Nanoelectronics and H06G0A Technology of Integrated systems
Order of Enrolment
Mixed prerequisite:
You may only take this course if you comply with the prerequisites. Prerequisites can be strict or flexible, or can imply simultaneity. A degree level can be also be a prerequisite.
Explanation:
STRICT: You may only take this course if you have passed or applied tolerance for the courses for which this condition is set.
FLEXIBLE: You may only take this course if you have previously taken the courses for which this condition is set.
SIMULTANEOUS: You may only take this course if you also take the courses for which this condition is set (or have taken them previously).
DEGREE: You may only take this course if you have obtained this degree level.
SIMULTANEOUS (H06G4A)
The codes of the course units mentioned above correspond to the following course descriptions:
H06G4A : Materials Physics and Technology for Nanoelectronics
Identical courses
This course is identical to the following courses:
H03O3A : Betrouwbaarheid en yield van geïntegreerde elektronische componenten
Is included in these courses of study
- Master of Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Nanoengineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master of Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Nanoengineering (Leuven) (Option: Nanophysics Engineering) 120 ects.
- Courses for Exchange Students Faculty of Engineering Science (Leuven)
- Master of Materials Engineering (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (Leuven et al) 120 ects.
- Master of Electrical Engineering (Leuven) (Electronics and Chip Design) 120 ects.
Activities
2.4 ects. Reliability and Yield for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Components: Lecture (B-KUL-H06E4a)
Content
The first part of the course will be taught through 5-6 classical lectures:
- The basic concepts and methods of reliability are introduced: basic definitions and terminology, the bathtub-curve, the impact of scaling, classification of failure mechanisms, statistical methods, reliability functions and mathematics, failure rate, system reliability, active redundancy, reliability distribution functions, analysis of failure data (ranking, censoring, maximum likelihood fitting), accelerated testing, screening, reliability prediction, …
- The basic concepts of yield in semiconductor technology are discussed: definitions of yield, link between yield and cost, mechanisms of yield loss, yield models, defect clustering, critical chip area, defect models, yield elements, design, redundancy, structural yield problems, defect related yield, contamination, link between yield and reliability, latent defects, …
The second part of the course will be taught by the students themselves, where the main failure mechanisms in integrated electronic components are treated in detail: A) Oxide failure mechanisms, B) Time-Dependent-Dielectric-Breakdown, C) Mass transport failure mechanisms, D) Electrostatic discharge and E) Variability and reliability of VLSI technologies
This second part is taught by supervised self-study where the students are asked to study independently one failure mechanism of choice, using existing texts and papers, and to present his/her study to the other students under supervision of the teacher
Course material
Papers, copies of textbook material, handouts and slides are distributed through Toledo
Format: more information
The first part of the course will be taught through 5-6 classical lectures
The second part is taught by supervised self-study where the students are asked to study independently one failure mechanism of choice and to present his/her study to the other students under supervision of the teacher
0.6 ects. Reliability and Yield for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Components: Exercises and Labs (B-KUL-H06E5a)
Content
There are 5 exercise sessions planned
Two exercise sessions are used for the supervision of the preparation of the group presentation about one of the failure mechanisms studied in the course
One exercise session is used for exercises on the statistical methods used for reliability data analysis
Two exercise sessions are used to learn to make a calculation of an accelerated testing experiment. For these 2 exercise sessions, a brief written report is requested
Course material
Papers, copies of textbook material, handouts and slides are distributed through Toledo
Format: more information
Students are guided to present one of the failure mechanisms
Students are practicing some parts of the course
Evaluation
Evaluation: Reliability and Yield for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Components (B-KUL-H26E4a)
Explanation
The theoretical lectures will be examined using a written open book exam. This part is scored on 50% of the total score. This exam probes for insights and consists of a few practical applications of the methodologies discussed during the lectures and the exercise sessions.
For the part of the course with the presentations after supervised self-study, the quality of the presentations on the chosen topic and the participation and activity during the supervision sessions and the presentations will be scored for the other 50% of the total score.
Information about retaking exams
The score of the group presentation is kept, the score of the exam itself can be changed by the second exam chance.