February_EDFA_Digital

edfas.org ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 23 NO. 1 50 GUEST COLUMNIST EDFAS VIRTUAL WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS David Grosjean, General Chair, ISTFA 2020, Butterfly Network dgrosjean@butterflynetwork.com T he EDFAS Virtual Workshop 2020 was a first for our society and it was very well received. After a long period of uncertainty over the in-person ISTFA, the difficult decision to cancel ISTFA was finally made, and we quickly started preparations for the Virtual Workshop. Highlights from the three days of online sessions include 57 technical papers and posters, a keynote address, the virtual panel session, virtual equipment tours and Expo Hall, and even networking sessions. the MEMS and Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) at SEMI, gave a fascinating and accessible talk on MEMS history, fabrication technology, and applications. He finished with overviews of howMEMS and sensors will create new interconnected systems in health, automobiles, manu- facturing, and infrastructure. It was an excellent view of the past and future. The Panel Discussion continued the theme, focusing on failure analysis and 3D packaging technologies that enableMEMS and other applications. Organized by chairs Christian Schmidt of Nvidia and Kristofor Dickson of NXP, the panel of experts comprised AllysonHartzell of Philips, Martin Igarashi of TeraView, Yan Li of Intel, and Ryan Ross of JPL. The aspects of 3D package FA that were discussed in the panel were: ensuring good FA from different labs, sample dimension challenges from IC to PCB, and testing issues for FA. I found it to be an engrossing discussion! One of my favorite things at ISTFA is walking through the exhibit, talking to the vendors, and learning about the new tools and techniques. Although therewas no physical floor in our workshop, therewas still an exhibit area in the workshop platform with 15 participating vendors. With an easy-to-use interface, attendees could check out the booths, get information, and chat with representatives. Additionally, there was a virtual version of the Tools of the Trade tour (an event that seems to get more andmore popular each year) and two Lunch & Learn workshops. THE THEME FOR THE WORKSHOP WAS “THE RISE OF MEMS AND 3D FAILURE ANALYSIS.” The technical program is the heart of the workshop, andTechnical ProgramChair ZhigangSongof IBMsuccess- fully crafted an excellent online program. All papers and posters across 19 session topics had live Q&A sessions fol- lowing the presentations. We adapted the poster session experience to the virtual format by doing short presenta- tions. AV Chairs Renee Parente of AMD and Frank Altmann of Fraunhofer IMWS were instrumental in making sure all the presentations were in top shape. An unexpected advantage of the virtual format is the ability for attendees to not miss any presentations that might conflict on the schedule, as the workshop sessions were recorded and made available toattendees for 30days. The virtual format also made voting for best paper and best poster simpler. The theme for the workshop was “The Rise of MEMS and 3D Failure Analysis.”Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devicesmeasurephenomena in thephysical world and translate those measurements to electronics or vice versa, and they are ubiquitous: in phones, automobiles, appliances, games, healthcare, etc. Packaging technolo- gies (wafer bonding, 3D integration, stacked dies) have enabled this growth by drastically reducing costs and improving reliability. To start addressing the theme, the event's keynote speaker Dr. Timothy Brosnihan, executive director of The lively panel discussion covered three general topics and included questions from the audience and live polls.