Improved quality and reliability using operating extremes test methods

It has been found that testing an IC to the extremes of its operating range can cost-effectively flag abnormalities, signalling that the device has a higher potential of failing in the field. Production tests that take an IC to the extremes of its normal operating range are called operating extremes tests. By using these tests, each IC is checked at the limits of its operating capability by testing the IC beyond the customer´s specified parametric operating window. The premise of operating extremes testing is that any IC residing outside a normal distribution of the functional operating range is there through means not controlled or predicted, and thus represents a reliability risk. The use of operating extreme testing has been shown to be effective in reducing warranty rates and burn-in failures, and in eliminating temperature testing