Who Wants Reliable Plastic Semiconductors?

It has been found that a tri-layer metal contact system, consisting of platinum silicide-titanium-platinum-gold, is at least a factor of five better than a comparable aluminum metalized device with respect to humidity. However, all gold metalized devices are not necessarily this good; an example is given. To evaluate bond integrity, a liquid-to-liquid thermal shock is used followed by a high temperature parameter readout. Data is presented from long-tenm life tests which indicate that reliable plastic devices are not adversely effected after five cycles of thermal shock. Also presented is data indicating acceleration factors for salt atmosphere testing of silicone packages. Finally, problems with procurement of reliable plastic encapsulated semiconductors are discussed from a user´s viewpoint.