Electronic and Electrical Component Analysis

Using electrical characterization, wet-chemical decapsulation, optical microscopy, and scanning-electron microscopy, SwRI engineers identified this secondary-breakdown failure (yellow arrows) near the end of the emitter bond wire (blue arrows) in a bipolar horizontal-output transistor from a malfunctioning television set. From lower left to upper right, the failure site is shown in an optical micrograph and increasing magnification scanning electron micrographs.

Electronic and electrical component analysis capabilities in the SwRI Component Analysis Laboratory include optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray analysis, x-radiography, package opening and decapsulation, mounted and unmounted cross sectioning, plasma etching, wet-chemical etching and material removal, microprobing, hermeticity testing, wire-bond strength measurement, and particle-impact-noise detection. Other services offered include design reviews, vendor audits, failure-modes-and-effects analyses (FMEA), and mean-time-between-failures (MTBF) calculations. 

To learn more about electronic and electrical component failure analysis at SwRI, visit: Electronic and Electrical Component Analysis.

To learn more about failure analysis at SwRI, visit: www.failureanalysis.swri.org.

Stan Silvus, Program Manager
Kenneth Cook, Staff Technician

Technical strengths include:

• Internal Structure and Function Determinations
• Electronic and Electrical Failure Analysis
• Development of Corrective Actions

Electronics Systems and Robotics Department
Applied Physics
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November 06, 2009