Flat Panel Display Industries: Online Resources


Since 1984, nearly $45M has been invested in developing innovative methodologies to decrease life-cycle risks for the next generation of electronic products and systems, and to provide an educational and technological infrastructure for their rapid dissemination and use. We now offer an extensive set of resources to help engineers assess, mitigate, and manage risks in electronic products. These include web-based documents and tools to: conduct parts selection and management; conduct cost-effective accelerated testing and screening; predict reliability based on physics of failure and using virtual qualification software; design using components outside their rated temperature; design and utilize high temperature electronics; and model life cycle economics.

CalcePWA and CADMP II reliability assessment software was developed at CALCE EPSC over the past 15 years. It is the most advanced reliability assessment and virtual qualification tools currently available providing engineers with a silicon-to-systems accelerated product qualification capabilities. To access more information on the CALCE software products, click here.

The center offers a wide access to a collection of web-based documents, called webbooks, that cover areas of critical importance in electronic products and system development, ranging from solder-joint fatigue analysis and accelerated test development to cost analysis and supply chain management. To access a complete list of CALCE webbooks and their short descriptions, click here. Webbooks of particular interest to the gas and oil well  industries are listed below:

  • Accelerated Product Qualification and Quality Assurance
    This online resource presents interactive physics-of-failure guidelines for accelerated product qualification and quality assurance. The material is intended to give electronics manufacturers, suppliers, managers, analysts, and engineers a rational understanding of efficient ways to assess product durability and quality. Further, the fundamental concepts required to develop a successful physics-of-failure based accelerated qualification and quality assurance program that meets the product requirements, lowers life-cycle costs and reduces the time-to-market are addressed in detail through interactive case-studies. The valuable lessons learned are outlined as a set of generic guidelines to help design, plan, and implement a PoF based accelerated qualification program. Contact: Dr. Abhijit Dasgupta, Dr. Keith Rogers, [software, presentations, tutorials, case studies, and reports].
  • High Temperature Electronic Packaging
    This interactive guidebook for the development of electronic systems for use at temperatures above 125 °C/ Provides information for each package element. Information includes material properties, failure mechanisms, failure models, and manufacturing sites. Contact: Dr. Patrick McCluskey, Dr. Diganta Das, [presentations, interactive online guidebook, book chapters and references].
  • Influence of Temperature on Microelectronics and System Reliability
    An authoritative source on the effects of temperature on microelectronic device failure mechanisms. The document covers the important issues of steady state temperature dependent models, temperature effects associated with temperature cycling, temperature gradient, and time dependent temperature changes. It identifies models quantifying the temperature effects on various package elements, and address of the impacts of various design for temperature trade-offs on electronic systems. Temperature related models are assessed in terms of their use for determining the maximum and minimum allowable thermal stresses for a given system architecture. Contact: Dr. Michael Pecht and Dr. Diganta Das, [book chapters and references].
  • Integrated Circuit, Hybrid and MCM Package Design Guidelines
    A handbook providing descriptions of critical failure mechanisms for a wide range of packaging elements in IC, hybrid and multi-chip module packages. It also gives fundamental models for assessing the susceptibility for failure of these electronic products. Contact: Dr.Michael Pecht, [book chapters and references].
  • Long Term Non-Operating Reliability of Electronic Products 
    Electronics can experience a range of environments subsequent to manufacture and prior to disposal. Non-operating electronics do not necessarily experience benign environments. The potential environmental stresses on non-operating electronics can be natural, such as those due to climatic conditions, or can be induced by humans. This book examines non-operating electronics reliability issues, outlining and discussing storage conditions, the stresses that can arise in these conditions, and the failure mechanisms that can cause a failure. Contact: Dr. Michael Pecht and Dr. Diganta Das, [book chapters and references].
  • Moisture Diffusion and Corrosion in Electronics
    This webbook provides tutorials, bibliographies, and research work associated with moisture diffusion and corrosion in electronic systems. Moisture ingress into electronic assemblies can have many deleterious effects. In plastic encapsulated microelectronics (PEMs), moisture can cause or attribute to reliability problems such as popcorning, cracking, delamination and corrosion of the metalization at the die surface. Moisture in printed wiring boards can lead to corrosion, oxidation , and dendritic growth. Corrosion can cause degradation in electrical and mechanical performance of the electronic systems, and eventually, opens or shorts. Contact: Dr. Michael Osterman, [tutorials, presentations, and references].
  • Plas tic Encapsulated Microelectronics (including, PEM Encyclopedia, and PEM Bibliography)
    An interactive guide including a webbook, a bibliography, and online movies, provides a state of current technology and guidelines for use, manufacturing and purchasing of Plastic Encapsulated Microcircuits (PEMs). The webbook presents the science and technology behind PEMs. The advantages of using plastic packages, and the state of the current technology are discussed. A perspective on future trends in plastic encapsulation, especially on chip technology, packaging, design, materials selection, manufacturing processes, device integration and application-specific reliability is included. Also included is a bibliography of a wide range of critical publications in the fields of PEM manufacture, use, and reliability. Contact: Dr. Michael Pecht and Dr. Diganta Das, [book chapters, references, bibliography and online movies]. 
  • Root Cause Identification for Failure in PWBs 
    The purpose of failure analysis is to determine the root-cause of what, why, how, and where products can fail. Expert systems, which use decision trees and material data to create solutions to complex problems, can provide users with improved problem-solving capabilities without the expense of additional employees or facilities. This expert system for failure analysis, developed by the CALCE Research Center, provides designers, manufacturers, and users of electronic products a powerful tool in identification and corrective/preventive actions. At this time, our expert system is set up only for failures at the printed wiring board, but will soon include all possible failure mechanisms and defects that can occur in electronic products and systems. Contact: Dr. Michael Osterman, [interactive database and tutorials].
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