Technical Library | 2019-09-03 17:06:09.0
Both optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are powerful tools for failure analysis in electronics and are used for low and high magnification examination. This article will provide detailed, step by step information for examining solder joints.
Technical Library | 2019-05-30 11:04:03.0
There exists a need to efficiently remove heat from power electronics within power systems to enhance performance. Thermal management is a critical function to that operation. Reducing the junction temperature of semiconductor power electronic devices enables them to operate at higher currents. Lowering operating temperatures reduces the thermal stress on electronic devices, which improves efficiency and reduces failures. To improve the heat removal process, the current heat transfer design of a power system has been analyzed and a variety of thermal interface materials (TIMs) and cold plate technologies have been evaluated. This paper will review some of these results.
Technical Library | 2020-12-07 15:26:06.0
Temperature cycling testing is a method of accelerated life testing done to PCCs that are exposed to normal operation temperature variations over its lifetime. During the testing, intermittent "open" failures can first occur at the hot and cold extremes of the test, exposing weaknesses in the design and assembly. A poor/weak solder joint fatigues, a via trace or barrel cracks, loose connections or a component fails all causing an intermittent open. When not at extreme temperatures, the PCC assembly relaxes, the "open" closes creating electrical connectivity. If you are monitoring the PCC under test in-situ you will know that an intermittent failure has occurred, and the test could be stopped for inspection. If in-situ monitoring was not implemented, you would not know if there were intermittent failures or not. The PCC gets powered up and works fine at room temperature.
Technical Library | 2021-03-10 23:57:29.0
Latent short circuit failures have been observed during testing of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) for power distribution of spacecraft of the European Space Agency. Root cause analysis indicates that foreign fibers may have contaminated the PCB laminate. These fibers can provide a pathway for electromigration if they bridge the clearance between nets of different potential in the presence of humidity attracted by the hygroscopic laminate resin. PCB manufacturers report poor yield caused by contamination embedded in laminate. Inspections show ...
Technical Library | 2017-11-08 23:22:04.0
Due to the ongoing trend towards miniaturization of power components, the need for increased thermal conductivity of solder joints in SMT processes gains more and more importance. Therefore, the role of void free solder joints in power electronics becomes more central. Voids developed during soldering reduce the actual thermal transfer and can cause thermal damage of the power components up to their failure. For this reason, the company has developed a new technique to minimize the formation of these voids during the soldering process.
Technical Library | 2020-06-19 19:08:14.0
The designs of electronic devices and systems are being continuously improved by becoming smaller in size and faster in communication speed. The potential risk associated with these specific design improvements will be an increase in power density and, consequently, a greater risk of thermal problems and failures. At the same time, the prevailing use of circuit boards integrated with power devices such as motor controllers and drivers, light-emitting diode (LED) lighting modules, power supplies, and amplifiers, and regulators for TV, etc., drive to the use of a proper thermal management system while designing these kinds of printed circuit board (PCB).
Technical Library | 2012-12-14 14:25:37.0
The popularity of low voltage technologies has grown significantly over the last decade as semiconductor device manufacturers have moved to satisfy market demands for more powerful products, smaller packaging, and longer battery life. By shrinking the size of the features they etch into semiconductor dice, IC manufacturers achieve lower costs, while improving speed and building in more functionality. However, this move toward smaller features has lead to lower breakdown voltages and increased opportunities for component overstress and false failures during in-circuit test.
Technical Library | 2020-09-30 19:26:45.0
Introduction •Market trend: Smaller, more efficient, more powerful, run faster •ICs and other sophisticated electronic components typically operate efficiently only under a certain range of temperatures •Operational temperatures must be kept within a suitable range • Excessive heat can damage performance and can even cause system failure
Technical Library | 2021-09-15 19:00:35.0
This paper presents the use of physics of failure (PoF) methodology to infer fast and accurate lifetime predictions for power electronics at the printed circuit board (PCB) level in early design stages. It is shown that the ability to accurately model silicon–metal layers, semiconductor packaging, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and assemblies allows, for instance, the prediction of solder fatigue failure due to thermal, mechanical, and manufacturing conditions. The technique allows a lifecycle prognosis of the PCB, taking into account the environmental stresses it will encounter during the period of operation. Primarily, it involves converting an electronic computer aided design (eCAD) circuit layout into computational fluid dynamic (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) models with accurate geometries. From this, stressors, such as thermal cycling, mechanical shock, natural frequency, and harmonic and random vibrations, are applied to understand PCB degradation, and semiconductor and capacitor wear, and accordingly provide a method for high-fidelity power PCB modelling, which can be subsequently used to facilitate virtual testing and digital twinning for aircraft systems and sub-systems.
Technical Library | 2014-10-09 17:51:35.0
Over the last years more and more international newspapers reported in Europe / USA and Japan: "Tunnel train got stuck under the Channel – thousands of people stranded", "Recall of thousands of cars to workshops for control and repair", "Power Failures left households without energy for hours." Very often news like this relate to malfunctions of electric and electronic circuits under adverse conditions or sometimes even in normal operating environment (...) The presentation will deal with all kinds of aspect of cleaning to ensure the reliability of electronic circuitry in ever changing operation conditions in the most important industrial areas.
