Failure Analysis - Fundamentals and Advanced Techniques for Nanotechnology

Failure analysis requires a combination of the correct tools and a correct reasoning process. However, the complexities associated with complex integrated circuits with nanometer feature sizes make each in-depth individual analysis time-consuming and expensive. Often, these analyses can require man-months of effort from a team of individuals. One must know not only "where" to look on the IC, but also "when" to look in many instances. We will discuss the tools and techniques required to successfully analyze these complex devices. Many of these techniques require active participation from test engineering. There is a growing body of work relating test to the electrical behavior of defects. There is also a nascent body of work forming around yield data, test, and failure analysis. Increasingly, failure analysts will need to make use of test and yield data to help guide the fault localization process. We will discuss the trends occurring in this area as well.

Christopher L. Henderson

Chris received his B.S. in Physics from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and his M.S.E.E. from the University of New Mexico. Chris is the President and one of the founders of Semitracks Inc., a United States based company that provides education and training to the semiconductor industry. Chris also teaches courses in failure analysis, reliability and semiconductor technology for the semiconductor industry. From 1988 to 2004 he worked at Sandia National Laboratories, where he was a Principal Member of Technical Staff in the Failure Analysis Department and Microsystems Partnerships Department. His job responsibilities have included failure and yield analysis of components fabricated at Sandia's Microelectronics Development Laboratory, research into the electrical behavior of defects, and consulting on microelectronics issues for the DoD. He has published over 20 papers at various conferences in semiconductor processing, reliability, failure analysis, and test. He has received two R&D 100 awards and two best paper awards. Prior to working at Sandia, Chris worked for Honeywell, BF Goodrich Aerospace, and Intel. Chris is a member of IEEE and EDFAS (the Electron Device Failure Analysis Society).