Can failure analysis keep pace with IC technology development?

The answer to the question of whether failure analysis can keep pace with IC technology development is yes from a technical viewpoint, if some new recipes for new materials and packages can be established, but the realization will be a revolution in failure analysis (FA) in terms of methods, skills and tools. From a business point of view, the answer is only yes if FA can offer adequate results for reasonable costs in order to fulfil the cost reduction requirements of semiconductor products. With all the innovations in FA necessary to meet semiconductor development requirements, FA becomes a relevant cost factor in IC business. FA road maps are discussed for their implications on investment, required analyst skills, lab organization and time to results. This presentation concludes that the resulting FA cost explosion cannot be compensated by any conceivable measures to enhance FA productivity. This holds even under the assumption that a rising number of current FA problems will be solved by modern testing techniques. Several strategies to reduce FA costs while keeping techniques state-of-the-art are presented. The most important approach is to integrate FA in semiconductor product and technology development and introduce it as part of their projects. Only in this way can F/A deliver custom-tailored solutions that are optimized in terms of productivity and time to result