Design for reliability through engineering optimization

With complex process integration approaches and severe fabrication limitations caused by the introduction of new materials and diminishing process margins, there are mounting concerns over possible increased failure rate [1] at the early life cycle (e.g. <;1 year operation) of product use, known as infant mortality failures. A paradigm change in reliability qualification methodology, to aim at understanding the impact of variations on reliability [2-3], is required to ensure that reliability robustness is integrated into the design of the technology to prevent problems from surfacing during product qualification and application. By applying the improved variation control though process Design-For-Reliability (DFR) and engineering optimization methodology as described in Figure 2 and Figure 3, this work aims to establish an effective and efficient method to reduce the infant mortality failure rate of the product, through understanding critical design and process factors and determining the optimal design and process conditions to ensure reliability robustness.