CD Laboratory for Lifetime and Reliability of Interfaces in Complex Multi-Material Electronics

Multifunctional high-tech devices require a high packing density of components and the combination of a wide variety of materials. The CD Laboratory investigates system-related deformation processes and determines corresponding reliability corridors.

The semiconductor industry is facing major challenges due to the constantly increasing number of device functionalities, shorter life cycles and growing global competition. The integration of a large number of functionalities requires an increasingly dense packing of components with different properties. It is therefore essential to know - and predict - how these components will behave in relation to each other, also taking into account external influences such as temperature and mechanical stress. For this reason, innovative testing systems are being developed which, for the first time, make structures in nanometre sizes accessible to scientific investigation in a short space of time, even in more complex components. This enables a better understanding and exact quantification of the time- and temperature-dependent micro-mechanisms of the deformation processes of these components under a wide range of static and dynamic stresses.

To this end, samples and components are analysed which systematically cover a wide range of parameters relating to material combinations, composition, microstructure, geometries, dimensions, design and manufacturing processes and their influences. The latest experimental methods and techniques for chemical-analytical, physical and mechanical characterisation are applied and also developed. For many of these questions, the CD Laboratory already has specially designed, innovative in-house developments in test systems and methods at its disposal.

Based on the knowledge gained, new material and service life models are created. These models enable the successful development of innovative material combinations and component designs with increased performance, reliability and service life for a wide range of the next generations of microelectronic components. In addition, it will be possible to provide information based on scientific findings on an assured reliability corridor for their design and manufacture. This enables shorter development cycles and a longer service life of the devices, as it can be predicted whether certain combinations of components will prove to be stable and reliable in use under the expected operating conditions.