RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu)— A University of California, Riverside engineer builds electronic circuits just to break them as quickly as possible. A research team led by Sheldon Tan, a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Bourns College of Engineering, has developed a new way to test the reliability of integrated circuits, such as microchips and microprocessors, that is faster than conventional techniques.

The method uses carefully controlled electromigration at normal operating temperature to cause the circuit to fail in hours instead of years, allowing researchers to assess how durable a particular manufacturing process is.

The new technique could extend the lifetime and reliability of the integrated circuits used in smartphones and automotive, medical, industrial, aerospace, and defense applications.  See here for details...