EOS in Manufacturing

Electrical Overstress (EOS) and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) account for most of the electrical failures of devices that occur in factories and in the field. The effects of ESD on integrated circuits have received much attention in technical literature, standards bodies and educational workshops and tutorials. The problem has been approached in a systematic manner which has resulted in relatively successful practices for design of robust devices and control procedures for the factory. However, the same cannot be said for the effects of the broader categories of electrical stresses generally referred to as electrical overstress (EOS). This disparity is reflected in the typical Pareto analysis of failures in electrical assembly where EOS is often the most commonly assigned cause of failure and may exceed the incidence of ESD by 10 times or more. One of the main reasons for this is that EOS sources are widely varied and very application dependent. As a result, no simple broad models for EOS have emerged comparable to HBM and CDM for ESD. Common device design practices have not been developed to the same extent, system level approaches tend to be ad hoc and responsibility for controlling potential sources in manufacturing tends to be diffused or non-existent.

Although EOS and ESD damage can at times look quite similar to each other, the source of each and the solution can be quite different. Therefore, it is important to be able to distinguish between the two mechanisms. The semiconductor industry needs knowledgeable engineers and scientists to understand these issues.

EOS and ESD - Different Source - Different Solutions is a 1-hour webinar that introduces EOS, ESD, their sources, and how to distinguish between them. Emphasis is given to the less well-known aspects of EOS caused by overvoltage or overcurrent. This webinar is designed for every manager, engineer, and technician concerned with EOS/ESD on the manufacturing floor, analyzing field returns, determining impact, and developing mitigation techniques.