Noise as a diagnostic tool for quality and reliability of electronic devices

Experimental facts about noise are presented which help us to understand the correlation between noise in a device and its reliability. The main advantages of noise measurements are that the tests are less destructive, faster and more sensitive than DC measurements after accelerated life tests. The following topics are addressed: 1) the kind of noise spectra in view of reliability diagnostics such as thermal noise, shot noise, the typical poor-device indicators like burst noise and generation-recombination noise and the 1/f² and 1/f noise; 2) why conduction noise is a quality indicator; 3) the quality of electrical contacts and vias; 4) electromigration damage; 5) the reliability in diode type devices like solar cells, laser diodes, and bipolar transistors; and 6) the series resistance in modern short channel MESFET, MODFET, and MOST devices