Electrical Engineering Seminar and Special Problems – Test & Reliability of CMOS Integrated Circuits
3 credits
Modern, integrated circuits (ICs) and systems on chip (SoCs) fabricated in state of the art (nanoscale) manufacturing process technologies can contain 10s of billions of transistor devices interconnected in extremely complex patterns spread on multiple layers of conducting (metal), semiconducting (silicon, germanium) and dielectric (silicon dioxide) materials. These ICs are prone to manufacturing defects that can manifest themselves immediately following their production or over longer periods of time while a product is deployed in the field. The course will focus on two major topics: test (and design-for-testability) and reliability of ICs. Test is the topic focused on immediate post manufacturing quality while reliability is the topic that focuses on device degradation or failure over time, while deployed in the field.
For further course information, please see: Course Syllabus from 2024