edfas.org ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 28 NO. 2 2 When the International Roadmap for Failure Analysis (IRFA) was launched in 2019, the goal was not only to address the existing technological challenges faced by our community, but also to incorporate a forward-looking perspective. As such, a dedicated FA Future Council was established alongside the main Die-Level Roadmap and Package-Level Roadmap Councils. Yet, as time passed and the community began to embrace these efforts, what became clear was a need for us to not only look ahead to the technical challenges but to also consider the awareness challenges our community faced. EDFAS has traditionally worked with a focused understanding and respect for its own workflows. So when the IRFA leadership team began interacting with stakeholders from the wider semiconductor ecosystem—especially those connected to funding prospects—it felt like there was a language barrier between us. What the FA community took for granted, in terms of techniques we commonly use, intricacies of our work, and the value that it brings, was lost on various individ- uals and technology groups who held key positions of influence outside of FA. This, in a way, did not come as too much of a surprise, to be honest. Those of us who have been in FA for long enough have heard of and experienced many situations in which the powerhouse semiconductor industry has treated us as an afterthought or an expensive insurance policy. A service that is called on to save the day when first silicon hits or a new product introduction qualification fails brings all hands to the pump. This has always been the case, and, for some, it was reluctantly accepted. But with the introduction of the IRFA and its fresh energy, it was decided that a formal attempt should be made to try to correct it. The Failure Analysis Outreach Council (FAOC) comprises a selection of dedicated tool users, tool vendors, and academics from across the FA community who have been tasked with three main objectives: Capitalize on the solid gaps identified by each IRFA Council to generate more FA awareness/engagements across the broader semiconductor ecosystem to ensure FA needs are understood and accounted for. This will be used directly to drive active engagement with CHIPS Act initiatives in the U.S. such as NIST Metrology and the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), so we can stay up to date on the latest developments and communicate them to the FA community. Part of this effort also concerned promoting the idea of establishing an FA Center of Excellence. Network and collaborate with industry bodies, conferences, workshops, and initiatives, etc. This will be used to bring FA gaps and needs directly into design and process R&D communities, especially as transistor MAY 2026 | VOLUME 28 | ISSUE 2 A RESOURCE FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS GUEST EDITORIAL FAILURE ANALYSIS OUTREACH COUNCIL: AWARENESS, EDUCATION, INFLUENCE Keith Serrels, Hamamatsu kserrels@hamamatsu.com edfas.org (continued on page 40) PURPOSE: To provide a technical condensation of information of interest to electronic device failure analysis technicians, engineers, and managers. Nicholas Antoniou Editor/KLA nicholas.antoniou@kla.com Joanne Miller Senior Editor Victoria Burt Managing Editor Allison Freeman Production Supervisor ASSOCIATE EDITORS Navid Asadi University of Florida Guillaume Bascoul CNES France Felix Beaudoin GlobalFoundries Michael R. Bruce Consultant Jiann Min Chin Advanced Micro Devices Singapore Michael DiBattista Varioscale Inc. Rosine Coq Germanicus Universitié de Caen Normandie Szu Huat Goh Qualcomm Jason Holm NIST Ted Kolasa Northrop Grumman Space Systems Joy Liao Nvidia Corp. Rosalinda M. Ring NenoVision Tom Schamp E-Space David Su Yi-Xiang Investment Co. Martin Versen University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim, Germany FOUNDING EDITORS Edward I. Cole, Jr. Sandia National Labs Lawrence C. Wagner LWSN Consulting Inc. GRAPHIC DESIGN Jan Nejedlik, jan@designbyj.com PRESS RELEASE SUBMISSIONS magazines@asminternational.org Electronic Device Failure Analysis™ (ISSN 1537-0755) is published quarterly by ASM International®, 9639 Kinsman Road, Materials Park, OH 44073; tel: 800.336.5152; website: edfas. org. Copyright © 2026 by ASM International. Receive Electronic Device Failure Analysis as part of your EDFAS membership. Non-member subscription rate is $190 U.S. per year. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by ASM International for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, provided that the base fee of $19 per article is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Electronic Device Failure Analysis is indexed or abstracted by Compendex, EBSCO, Gale, and ProQuest. Serrels
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