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edfas.org ELECTRONIC DEV ICE FA I LURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 23 NO . 2 52 different operators who don’t necessarily have sufficient training or insight into what they should be looking for. In such a system, the larger picture is often missed. A personal gripe, something as straightforward as curve tracer diagnostic testing has become a lost art. Sadly, curve tracing has devolved into a cousin to the automated ESD test, where the operator pushes a button and runs the sequence. But few analysts take the extra steps to look deeper into the results. Which result gives more useful information, “Pin 7 shorted” or “Pin 7 has an early turn-on at 1.4 volts to Pin 12?” And I can’t end this discussion without a mention of hot button words in FA reports. If your customer uses the device you analyzed in an automotive module that goes into a million cars a year, you probably don’t want to include phrases like “latent defect” in your FA report. Nothing will make your boss’ phone ring faster. Speculation about artifacts that are found can have a similar effect to hot button words. If you’re not certain that the lump you see in an x-ray is a silicon fragment, then don’t call it that in your report. These things are a part of being sensitive to your audience and their end customer as well. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to being an irritated customer. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ted Kolasa started his pro- fessional career in the aerospace industry, working as an RF systems engineer before joining Motorola Semiconductor as a failure analyst, specializing in the analysis of mixed- signal, analog, and power devices. He later returned to the aerospace world and currently works for Northrop Grumman Space Systems as an EM Analysis Engineer, keeping his FA skills fresh by participating in little bit of failure investigation on the side. Kolasa is a member of ASM/EDFAS, serves as an associate editor of EDFA maga- zine, and has been actively involved in the ISTFA sympo- sium for a number of years as amember of the organizing committee, session chair, and peer reviewer. While Kolasa is occasionally an irritated customer, he is generally a happy person most of the time. Accelerated Analysis. ............................................ 52 Allied High Tech. ..............................................26-27 ASM International. .................................. 9 / 17 / IBC Checkpoint Technologies................................20-21 Ted Pella................................................................ 48 TESCAN USA Inc........................... Inside front cover Quantum Focus....................................................... 3 ULTRA TEC...............................................Back cover For advertising information and rates , contact: Kelly Johanns, Business Development Manager 440.318.4702, kelly.johanns@asminternational.org Current rate card may be viewed online at asminternational.org/mediakit. INDEX OF ADVERTISERS A RESOURCE FOR TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS