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ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 21 NO. 3 34 ISTFA 2019

PREVIEW

Felix Beaudoin, ISTFA 2019 General Chair GlobalFoundries felix.beaudoin@globalfoundries.com

Oregon Convention Center in the heart of Portland.

Dragon boats on the Willamette River with downtown Portland as a backdrop.

“Novel computing architectures” is the theme of the 45th International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis (ISTFA), whichwill take place inPortland, Oregon, from Sunday to Thursday, November 10-14. The need for more computing power is driving the semiconductor industry to innovate at an exponential rate best described by Moore’s law. Technology scaling down to the sub 10 nm node creates numerous challenges for failure analysis (FA) engineers. Electrical, localization, and physical failure analysis techniques are often stretched to their limits in order to meet the conflicting requirements of high FA success rate and fast turnaround time. Our industry is now facing disruptive changes in computing architectures driven by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and the promise of quantum computing. Neuromorphic chip designs on one hand, and quantum bits on the other, still in R&D, will introduce new computing circuitry and memory elements, novel materials, and different test methodologies. At ISTFA this year, we will dedicate time to discuss the challenges ahead and establish a failure analysis roadmap

identifying gaps for all interested parties including chip manufacturers, tool vendors, and universities. In particu- lar, the panel discussion will try to answer, “What does artificial intelligencemean to failure analysis engineers?” Panelists involved in AI technology enablement (such as AI chip design and heterogeneous/3D package integra- tion), AI applications in datacenters and automotive, and the use of AI to improve failure analysis will be invited to share their experiences anddebate specific failure analysis needs with the audience. With more than 18 technical oral presentation and poster sessions packed with high quality and innovative work, ISTFA is the place to share successes regarding today’s problems and learn valuable insights from our colleagues. User groups provide another meaningful opportunity to share issues as well as ideas about how to solve them. This year, four user groups will delve into Nanoprobing/Optical, FIB, Sample Preparation, and System on Package considerations. Attendees can also learn about best practices regarding failure analysis and methodologies during the tutorials on Sunday and

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