Burn-In 101

BU RN -I N 1 0 1
Mayank Parasrampuria, Sandeep Jain: Freescale Semiconductor
I N T RO D U C T I O N
What is Burn-in testing?

Burn-in testing is the process by which we detecting the early fails in components thereby increase component
reliability. In semiconductor world this means taking us closer to Zero DPPM. In this process component is exercised
under extreme operating conditions, (elevated temperatures and elevated voltages), this acts as stress on the component
under test and thereby eliminates the weak population from the product, prior to customer delivery. This ensures
delivery of a high quality product.
Burn-in test is done in accordance with the bathtub curve for reliability of Electronics Equipment, this curve give
the Failure Rate Versus Time plot of electronic equipment.
This curve has three stages:
Stage 1: Infant Mortality/Early Life This is the period were early failures show up in a component, these fails
are due to lack of control in manufacturing process at molecular level. So when a sub-standard component is
used, over time it start failing as and when these defects surfaces. During this period components fail at a high
rate but this rate decreases with time. (Curve in blue shows failure rate due to early fails)
Stage 2: Normal/Useful Life This is the period were rate of failure is nearly constant. The constant rate of
failure seen in this period is due to randomly occurring faults. (shown with green curve)
Stage 3: Wear Out/End of Life Period marked by increase in failure rate due. These fails are due to ageing
of component; this period marks the end of useful life span of a device. These fails are due to critical paths in
device getting worn out. (Curve in red shows failure rate due to ageing).
Performing burn-in reduces the total life span of a device as shown in the below curve, but it has no impact on the
useful life (Stage 2) of a device. Therefore companies before delivery to customer perform burn-in to accelerate device
into Stage-2 of their life cycle, thereby minimizing customer returns.
Advantages:
Delivered product has higher reliability. Lesser customer return.
Ability to estimate the products usable life period.
Disadvantages:
Higher cost (Burn-in boards degrades over time and requires to be fixed/re-ordered).
Mechanical and EOS/ESD damage to parts.
Non-uniform distribution of stress on device (Inability to put 100% of the device under stress).
Efficiency of Burn-in test impacted by voltage scaling and power consumption.
FAU LT S D E T E C T E D
Burn-in test detects faults that are detected are generally due to imperfections in manufacturing and packaging process
which are becoming more common with the increasing circuit complexity and aggressive technology scaling.
Traditional stuck-at testing does not detect these types of faults because these faults may be dormant and need to be
stressed to manifest as "fails" (during burn-in).
Root cause of fails detected during burn-in testing can be identified as dielectric failures, conductor failures,
metallization failures and electro-migration, mouse-bites, etc. these faults are dormant and randomly manifest into
device failure during device life cycle. With Burn-in test we stress the device accelerating these dormant faults to
manifest as fails.
T Y P E S O F BU R N - I N T E S T
BURN-IN
TEST TYPE
METHOD OF TESTING
Dynamic
Scan
Based
Static
BIST
Based
Dynamic
+ Test
Scan
Based
BIST
Based
Static Burn-in: In this we apply extreme voltages and temperatures to each device without operating or exercising the
device. The advantages of static burn-in are its low cost and simplicity. A major limitation of static burn-in, however, is
that it exercises fewer than half the circuit nodes on a device.
Dynamic Burn-in: Also referred to as Burn-in for Stress in this we apply various input stimuli to each device while the
device is exposed to extreme temperature and voltage. The advantage of dynamic burn-in is its ability to stress more
internal circuits, causing additional failure mechanisms to occur. However, dynamic burn-in is limited because it cannot
completely simulate what the device would experience during actual use, so all the circuit nodes may not get stressed.
Dynamic Burn-in with Test: In this we additionally monitor device outputs at different points in the burn-in process,
verifying that the devices are actually being exercised. This type of burn-in is especially useful for quickly determining
burn-in fallout as a function of time, allowing the burn-in process to be terminated at an optimal point. Another
advantage of burn-in with test is the ability to detect devices that will fail under marginal conditions, but not at the
normal operating point. Elimination of these devices early significantly improves product quality. Dynamic burn-in with
test also allows devices to be tested after the burn-in cycle, eliminating the need to transfer them to a separate tester.
T E S T F L OW
Typical test flow for qualification of a device -
Wafer Level
Testing
Packaged
Part Testing
Burn-In
Testing
Generally, the Burn-in testing is divided into multiple stages to save of test cost
Static Burn-In
Dynamic Burn-In With Test
Final Test
Across Temp
STRESS AND RELIABILI TY TESTS
In order to improve the reliability by screening, continuous efforts are made to have a process of accelerated test to
remove parts likely to fail, without reducing the life span of good parts. Many new processes have been developed
which are used along with burn-in or can be used as alternatives.
ACCELERATED ENVIRONMENT STRESS TESTS

o PC - Preconditioning
o Autoclave or Pressure Cooker Test
o THB Temperature Humidity Bias
o HAST - Highly Accelerated Temperature and Humidity Stress
o uHAST - Unbiased Highly Accelerated Stress
o Power Temperature Cycling & Thermal Shock
o HTSL - High Temperature Storage Life
o HVST High Voltage Stress Test
ACCELERATED LIFETIME SIMULATION TESTS

o HTOL - High Temperature Operating Life
o ELFR - Early Life Failure Rate
o NVM Endurance & Data Retention
DIE FABRICATION RELIABILITY TESTS

o Electro-migration
o Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown
o Hot Carrier Injection
o Negative Bias Temperature Instability
o Stress Migration
ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS SCREENING

o Temperature Cycling
o Thermal Shock
o Power Cycling
o Environmental Conditioning
REFERENCES
o
o
o
o
Improving Efficiency of IC Burn-In Testing: Yong Han Ng, Yew Hock Low and Serge Demidenko (I2MTC
2008 - IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference)
http://www.aecouncil.com/
http://www.eag.com/mte/burn-in-reliability-testing.html
http://www.siliconfareast.com/burnin.htm

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What are the different types of burn-in testing?

What faults can burn-in testing detect?

BU RN -I N 1 0 1

Mayank Parasrampuria, Sandeep Jain: Freescale Semiconductor

What is Burn-in testing?

This curve has three stages:

Typical test flow for qualification of a device -

Dynamic Burn-In With Test

STRESS AND RELIABILI TY TESTS

ACCELERATED ENVIRONMENT STRESS TESTS

ACCELERATED LIFETIME SIMULATION TESTS

DIE FABRICATION RELIABILITY TESTS

ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS SCREENING

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