The IEEE Gel Task Force: an early look at the final testing

The IEEE special task force exploring the corrosion-inhibiting performance of silicon gels is now in its third year. Previous progress reports are reviewed. All the previous data has proved that satisfactory semiconductor chip protection from corrosion is possible using silicone gels and have indicated that nitride protection alone is not enough. These data were based on small, preliminary samples. However, small samples are not adequate for null hypothesis testing, i.e. whether gels prevent corrosion failures well enough to justify their use in military packaging. Ongoing testing based on larger sample sizes is discussed. Compared to the early testing of two or three samples of each type of gel covering, the sample size is now 60 samples of each of 9 gel-assembly combinations. Testing is being done at 10 test locations, with redundant testing for each cell. The sample sizes and the redundant measurements permit the first presentation of statistically significant data for testing the performance possibilities