15 years ago Intel introduced the concept of building-in reliability. It basically means to control design, processes and materials which are used for producing chips rather than testing the chip itself. This concept is also very well suited to secure the reliability of power electronics systems. Today “zero defect” throughout the supply chain is a requirement.
Everything has to be done right from the beginning, starting with design up to thermal management, EMI and environmental protection, system test, manufacturing and final test.

In the design phase the stress applied to the devices has to be determined by simulations and measurements. Extremely important is cooling because most of the failures are caused by thermo-mechanical stresses. EMI protection has to be built-in from the very beginning. The physics of potential failures has to be considered all the time. During manufacturing all the materials and processes have to be controlled by statistical process control SPC. The process windows should be narrowed down according to the 6 σ requirements. Continuous improvements are necessary to reach “zero defects”.

Prof. Eckhard Wolfgang (Siemens Corporate
Technology, Munich) will chair the workshop
together with Mr. Thomas Harder (ECPE).

All presentations and discussions will be in English.