edfas.org ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 28 NO. 3 2 The CHIPS Metrology Program at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was established to “enable advances and breakthroughs in measurement science, standards, material characterization, instrumentation, testing, and manufacturing capabilities that will accelerate the underlying research and development for metrology of next-generation microelectronics.”[1] Metrology underlies all semiconductor manufacturing to benchmark, monitor, control, and improve processes, and to provide confidence in the introduction of technological innovations. Failure analysis (FA), which lies at the heart of successful yield enhancement and reliability assurance, is especially critical for de-risking new process nodes and diagnosing field returns. Metrology tools and techniques form the foundation for an effective FA workflow, where high-resolution fault localization is critical. Central to remedying an electrical failure is identifying a root morphological cause, such as a short, an open, or a void, which, in turn, depends heavily on the nature of the engineered materials making up a device. Rigorously vetted methods for characterizing the atomic structure and chemical composition of engineered materials enable a trusted assessment of the likelihood of defect formation and subsequent performance degradation or failure. This commentary describes some key FA-relevant CHIPS Metrology projects that aim to strengthen FA engineers’ ability to diagnose and improve manufacturing processes for high yield and high reliability. Commonly used tools for FA in semiconductor manufacturing include transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, focused ion beam microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and surface analysis methods such as secondary ion mass spectrometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.[2] Expanding on these capabilities, CHIPS Metrology is advancing new and improved metrology tools and methods that have the potential to significantly disrupt FA workflow in a positive way. Below are descriptions of selected projects that exemplify the advances expected to provide value to the FA community. AUGUST 2026 | VOLUME 28 | ISSUE 3 A RESOURCE FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS GUEST EDITORIAL SEMICONDUCTOR FAILURE ANALYSIS IN THE CHIPS METROLOGY PROGRAM Bob Keller and Rebecca Routson CHIPS Metrology Program, NIST bob.keller@chips.gov rebecca.routson@chips.gov edfas.org 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 Amrutha Sampath NXP Semiconductors 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. Routson Keller (continued on page 40)
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