Zero Defects - Reliability for Automotive Electronics

As complexity in automotive semiconductor applications is increasing, the need for robust and failure free semiconductors is increasing even more. This paper addresses the special requirements of automotive applications. The operating conditions of semiconductors in a car will be shown. The differences to other challenging semiconductor applications will be pointed out. It shows, that automotive application is not the worst environment in a particular field but a combination of several hard conditions. The need to strive for zero failures will be derived by an example of a typical electronic control unit. Trends in automotive electronics will show that the operating conditions for semiconductors in a car will get even worse in the future. It will be shown, that dealing with aging mechanisms and end of life calculations will become mandatory.