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Reed switch reliability
474
World Abstracts oll Microelectromcs and Reliability
connection with the reason of human error. Measures of error-reduction are classified in a work-situation approach and in human approach. The conclusions are a. The paper creates a framework in which the human reliability engineer can carry out his work. b. In a risk analysis, human errors have to be taken into account. c. The ratio of human-caused errors to situation-caused errors, which is often mentioned in literature as 20: 80, does not hold. d. The taxonomy of human errors which is dealt with reasonably leads to the improvement of the man-machine system under study. e. The critical incident technique is very useful in human reliability engineering. In particular it gives insight into situation-caused errors. f. Each work situation ought to be described and analyzed in detail with regard to human errors. Because an employee is an expert subject he should participate in work situation analysis.
The Federal Government and product liability. KAY KLATT. Proc. PLP-78, Product Liability Pret,ention Cm#~, Phila-
dclphia. PAI21 23 August 19781, p 15. lu thesprmg,~l I,~7~ hundreds of small businessmen began to vocali/c the~ anxiety over skyrocketing insurance premiums for product liability. In response to the growing concerns of the small business community, the Senate Small Business Committee began a major investigation into the prices and availability of product liability insurance. Since the fall of 1L}76, the committee has conducted eight days of hearings, during which witnesses representing the small business communiLx, the insurance industry, consumers, the legal profession, and several key government agencies, have testified, Also in the spring of 1976, a Federal lnteragency [ask Force was established by the Economic Policy Board of the White House and charged with s:tudying the product liability problem. The Task Force commissioned three independent contractor studies in the legal, insurance, and industr) areas: and a final report with conclusions about the product liability problem was completed by the Task Force in November of 1977. Meanwhile. other congressional committees initiated studies of the problem: both the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Small Busine, ss Committee held hearings on the subject.
2. RELIABILITY OF COMPONENTS, TUBES, TRANSISTORS AND ICs Reed switch reliability. R. K. SARAF and IVAN B. RAM. Microelectron. Reliab. 17, 431 (1978). In this article, a general discussion has been given regarding the reliability testing and failure modes of the reed switches based on some of the climatic, mechanical and endurance tests carried out in the laboratory. The construction and reliability of Sehottky diodes. D. C. CROFT. Microelectron. Retiab. 17, 455 (1978). A description is given of the way in which various constructional features can determine the electrical performance and the reliability of Schottky diodes. During an exploratory accelerated lifetest of commercial small-signal Schottky diodes four distinct failure modes were observed, three resulting in increased reverse leakage current and the fourth involving increased series resistance. However, in the case of the diodes tested, it is estimated that the failure rate in normal service would not he prohibitively high. Life characteristics of plastic encapsulated semiconductor devices. BERNARD RETCH. Microelectron. Reliab. 17, 513 (1978). The life characteristics of plastic encapsulated semiconductor devices have been defined. It consists of an initial period of failure-free operation followed by a period of an increasing number of failures. The initial failure-free period is related to the time required for moisture ingress through the encapsulating material and device passivation. The period of increasing failure relates to the rate at which corrosion of device metallization occurs. This paper illustrates how these periods are affected by temperaturehumidity stress, biasing and salt atmosphere content and also alludes to other potential influences. A study of accelerated storage test conditions applicable to semiconductor devices and microcircuits. BERNARD REich. IEEE Trans. Reliab. R-27, (3) 178 (August 1978). This preliminary theoretical study on the application of accelerated stress testing for determining storage life of semiconductor devices and microcircuits has resulted in the following conclusions: There are more environmental stresses that can be applied to the accelerated testing of plastic encapsulated microcircuits, than hermetic devices. For hermetic devices, the assurance of initial hermeticity
and wire bond integrity should insure long storagedormancy life. Since only limited storage-dormancy data are available. accelerated testing and verification with use conditions data are necessary to support the conclusion of this stud~.
Probability of displacement damage in a component exposed to nuclear radiatioa stress from the viewpoint of reliability. KRISHAN LAL. Microelectron. Retiab. 17, 435 (1978). A component exposed to a nuclear radiation environment consisting of a major portion of its flux contributing towards the displacement damage in a components material along with recovery phenomenon has been considered at microscopical level in this paper. An atom, after receiving an energy in excess of a specified minimum, produces a Frenkel pair which, if stable, constitutes a displacement damage. Some of these interstitials combine with the vacancies due to channeling, annealing and replacement effects and result in the recovery of the damage. The damage and reco~/ery rates have been formulated. Utilizing these rates, the probability of displacement damage has been estimated by formulating a model with the help of differential equations. Miner's rule in mechanical tests of electronic parts. ANrONt CZECHOWSKI and ARNO LENK. IEEE Trans. Reliab. R-27, (3) 183 (August 1978). The complexity and cost of equipment necessary for dynamic mechanical strength testing is reviewed. The influence of mechanical resonance on the behaviour of electromc components is discussed. O11 the basis of Miner's rule (linear cumulative fatigue damagel, the conditions for equivalent tests (shock. vibration by sweepmg, and vibration below resonance frequencyj are presented. The results of mechanical resonance measurements of electronic parts and of their life test are given. The test times for different methods are compared. On the basis of experimental results some conclusions are proposed. particularly that vibration tests at constant frequency are not useful. Eiectromigrution failure under pulse test conditions. R..L MILLER. Proc. IEEE Reliab. Phys. Syrup., San Diego (18-20 April 1978), p. 241. Unpassivated aluminum thinfilm conductors were subjected to pulsed dc currents at a frequency of 250 kHz, with duty factors ranging from 10';, to 1000;i. Current densities of 4 × 1 0 ~ AJcm 2 and I . l0 ~
World Abstracts oll Microelectromcs and Reliability
connection with the reason of human error. Measures of error-reduction are classified in a work-situation approach and in human approach. The conclusions are a. The paper creates a framework in which the human reliability engineer can carry out his work. b. In a risk analysis, human errors have to be taken into account. c. The ratio of human-caused errors to situation-caused errors, which is often mentioned in literature as 20: 80, does not hold. d. The taxonomy of human errors which is dealt with reasonably leads to the improvement of the man-machine system under study. e. The critical incident technique is very useful in human reliability engineering. In particular it gives insight into situation-caused errors. f. Each work situation ought to be described and analyzed in detail with regard to human errors. Because an employee is an expert subject he should participate in work situation analysis.
The Federal Government and product liability. KAY KLATT. Proc. PLP-78, Product Liability Pret,ention Cm#~, Phila-
dclphia. PAI21 23 August 19781, p 15. lu thesprmg,~l I,~7~ hundreds of small businessmen began to vocali/c the~ anxiety over skyrocketing insurance premiums for product liability. In response to the growing concerns of the small business community, the Senate Small Business Committee began a major investigation into the prices and availability of product liability insurance. Since the fall of 1L}76, the committee has conducted eight days of hearings, during which witnesses representing the small business communiLx, the insurance industry, consumers, the legal profession, and several key government agencies, have testified, Also in the spring of 1976, a Federal lnteragency [ask Force was established by the Economic Policy Board of the White House and charged with s:tudying the product liability problem. The Task Force commissioned three independent contractor studies in the legal, insurance, and industr) areas: and a final report with conclusions about the product liability problem was completed by the Task Force in November of 1977. Meanwhile. other congressional committees initiated studies of the problem: both the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Small Busine, ss Committee held hearings on the subject.
2. RELIABILITY OF COMPONENTS, TUBES, TRANSISTORS AND ICs Reed switch reliability. R. K. SARAF and IVAN B. RAM. Microelectron. Reliab. 17, 431 (1978). In this article, a general discussion has been given regarding the reliability testing and failure modes of the reed switches based on some of the climatic, mechanical and endurance tests carried out in the laboratory. The construction and reliability of Sehottky diodes. D. C. CROFT. Microelectron. Retiab. 17, 455 (1978). A description is given of the way in which various constructional features can determine the electrical performance and the reliability of Schottky diodes. During an exploratory accelerated lifetest of commercial small-signal Schottky diodes four distinct failure modes were observed, three resulting in increased reverse leakage current and the fourth involving increased series resistance. However, in the case of the diodes tested, it is estimated that the failure rate in normal service would not he prohibitively high. Life characteristics of plastic encapsulated semiconductor devices. BERNARD RETCH. Microelectron. Reliab. 17, 513 (1978). The life characteristics of plastic encapsulated semiconductor devices have been defined. It consists of an initial period of failure-free operation followed by a period of an increasing number of failures. The initial failure-free period is related to the time required for moisture ingress through the encapsulating material and device passivation. The period of increasing failure relates to the rate at which corrosion of device metallization occurs. This paper illustrates how these periods are affected by temperaturehumidity stress, biasing and salt atmosphere content and also alludes to other potential influences. A study of accelerated storage test conditions applicable to semiconductor devices and microcircuits. BERNARD REich. IEEE Trans. Reliab. R-27, (3) 178 (August 1978). This preliminary theoretical study on the application of accelerated stress testing for determining storage life of semiconductor devices and microcircuits has resulted in the following conclusions: There are more environmental stresses that can be applied to the accelerated testing of plastic encapsulated microcircuits, than hermetic devices. For hermetic devices, the assurance of initial hermeticity
and wire bond integrity should insure long storagedormancy life. Since only limited storage-dormancy data are available. accelerated testing and verification with use conditions data are necessary to support the conclusion of this stud~.
Probability of displacement damage in a component exposed to nuclear radiatioa stress from the viewpoint of reliability. KRISHAN LAL. Microelectron. Retiab. 17, 435 (1978). A component exposed to a nuclear radiation environment consisting of a major portion of its flux contributing towards the displacement damage in a components material along with recovery phenomenon has been considered at microscopical level in this paper. An atom, after receiving an energy in excess of a specified minimum, produces a Frenkel pair which, if stable, constitutes a displacement damage. Some of these interstitials combine with the vacancies due to channeling, annealing and replacement effects and result in the recovery of the damage. The damage and reco~/ery rates have been formulated. Utilizing these rates, the probability of displacement damage has been estimated by formulating a model with the help of differential equations. Miner's rule in mechanical tests of electronic parts. ANrONt CZECHOWSKI and ARNO LENK. IEEE Trans. Reliab. R-27, (3) 183 (August 1978). The complexity and cost of equipment necessary for dynamic mechanical strength testing is reviewed. The influence of mechanical resonance on the behaviour of electromc components is discussed. O11 the basis of Miner's rule (linear cumulative fatigue damagel, the conditions for equivalent tests (shock. vibration by sweepmg, and vibration below resonance frequencyj are presented. The results of mechanical resonance measurements of electronic parts and of their life test are given. The test times for different methods are compared. On the basis of experimental results some conclusions are proposed. particularly that vibration tests at constant frequency are not useful. Eiectromigrution failure under pulse test conditions. R..L MILLER. Proc. IEEE Reliab. Phys. Syrup., San Diego (18-20 April 1978), p. 241. Unpassivated aluminum thinfilm conductors were subjected to pulsed dc currents at a frequency of 250 kHz, with duty factors ranging from 10';, to 1000;i. Current densities of 4 × 1 0 ~ AJcm 2 and I . l0 ~