Category Archives: Failure Analysis

FIB Circuit Edit

Kid playing with jet

What is a Circuit Edit?
 
A circuit edit is when you need to modify an existing ASIC or integrated circuit for whatever reason. This is usually done with the help of an ion beam that is focused onto the chip to modify it as per the request of the

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Semiconductor Failure Analysis: The Complete Guide to IC Failure Analysis

Examining a microchip

Semiconductor devices can fail for many reasons: manufacturing defects, electrical overstress, electrostatic discharge, contamination, packaging problems, excessive temperature, mechanical stress, aging or defects introduced during assembly.
 
Finding the actual cause of an IC failure, however, is rarely as simple as looking at the damaged device.
 
Semiconductor failure analysis

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Electrostatic Discharge vs Electromigration

ESD

This is a guest post by Naman Gupta, a Static Timing Analysis (STA) engineer at a leading semiconductor company in India.

Electrostatic Discharge and Electromigration might sound similar, but refer to two different physical phenomena. Let’s take them up one by one.
 
Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) is the large current flow between any

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Why Dr. Morris Chang is not My Hero. A tribute to Failure Analysis Engineers

Failure analysis

 
Dr. Morris Chang is not my hero. He might be the most important person in the semiconductor industry in our lifetime, but he is not my hero. I have nothing against him. I’ve never met him and probably will never will. Instead, I meet my heroes usually after tape-out,

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