ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a description of failure analysis mechanisms for electronic packaging materials exposed to extreme environments, following a brief introduction to the concepts of reliability, quality assurance, and failure physics. Reliability is defined as the probability that a system will function as required under target operating and environmental conditions for a specified amount of time. The reliability of an assembly can be determined by collecting lifetime data on a statistically significant number of assemblies under normal operating conditions and analyzing the data to determine a failure vs. Quality, or the degree to which an assembly meets or exceeds its specifications, and the acceptable range of product parameter variability are determined through qualification testing. For electronic assemblies exposed to extreme environments, failure mechanisms, or the chemical, electrical, physical, and thermal processes leading to failure, can be separated into two different categories, over-stress and time-dependent failure mechanisms.
