Claims
- 1. A method of determining the reliability of a component, said method comprising:
classifying the component based on an initial determination of a number of fatal defects; and estimating a probability of latent defects present in the component based on said classification, by integrating yield information based on the initial determination of a number of fatal defects using a statistical defect-clustering model.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of classifying the component based on an initial determination of a number of fatal defects comprises determining a number of neighboring components having fatal defects.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of estimating a probability of latent defects present in the component based on said classification comprises testing a sample of components from fewer than all of a plurality of classifications.
- 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of estimating a probability of latent defects present in the component based on said classification comprises testing a sample of components from one of a plurality of classifications.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said one of a plurality of classifications from which a sample is tested is a classification corresponding to a maximum number of neighboring components having fatal defects.
- 6. The method of claim 2, wherein said number of neighboring components having fatal defects is determined from a neighborhood of immediately neighboring components.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the neighborhood of immediately neighboring components comprises eight neighboring components surrounding a subject component.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of classifying the component based on an initial determination of a number of fatal defects comprises determining a number of repairs carried out on a repairable electronic component.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of estimating a probability of latent defects present in the component based on said classification comprises testing a sample of components from fewer than all of a plurality of classifications.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of estimating a probability of latent defects present in the component based on said classification comprises testing a sample of components from one of a plurality of classifications.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said one of a plurality of classifications from which a sample is tested is a classification corresponding to a maximum number of repairs carried out on the component.
- 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of classifying the component based on an initial determination of a number of fatal defects further comprises determining a number of repairs carried out on a neighboring component.
- 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of estimating a probability of latent defects present in the component based on said classification comprises determining a ratio of fatal defects to latent defects.
- 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising optimizing subsequent testing of the component based on an estimated reliability of the component.
- 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising testing the component if an estimated a probability of latent defects present in the component exceeds a specified rate.
- 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of classifying the component comprises separating a plurality of components into a plurality classifications.
- 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising statistically predicting the reliability of components in each of said plurality of classifications by testing a sample of components from fewer than all of said plurality of classifications.
- 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the component is a die for assembly into a multi-chip module, and wherein said method further comprises rejecting die determined to have a reliability below a specified rate.
- 19. A method of determining the reliability of a repairable component, said method comprising:
performing an initial test on the component to identify repairable defects in the component; and classifying the component based on the number of repairable defects identified by the initial test.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of classifying the component based on the number of repairable defects identified by the initial test comprises testing a sample of components from fewer than all of a plurality of classifications.
- 21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of estimating the reliability of the component comprises testing a sample of components from one of a plurality of classifications.
- 22. The method of claim 21, wherein said one of a plurality of classifications from which a sample is tested is a classification corresponding to a maximum number of repairable defects identified by the initial test.
- 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of estimating the reliability of the component further comprises determining the number of repairs carried out on a neighboring component.
- 24. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of estimating the reliability of the component comprises determining a ratio of repairable defects to latent defects in the component.
- 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising testing the component if an estimated reliability of the component exceeds a specified rate.
- 26. The method of claim 19, further comprising segregating a plurality of components into a plurality of classifications.
- 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising statistically predicting the reliability of components in each of said plurality of classifications by testing a sample of components from fewer than all of said plurality of classifications.
- 28. The method of claim 19, further comprising repairing any repairable defects in the component that are identified by the initial test.
- 29. The method of claim 19, wherein the component comprises a redundant memory array and the step of classifying the component is based on the number of repairable defects in the redundant memory array identified by the initial test.
- 30. The method of claim 19, further comprising optimizing subsequent testing of the component based on said classification of the component.
- 31. A method of determining the reliability of a component, said method comprising:
classifying the component based on an initial determination of a number of neighboring components having fatal defects; and testing a sample of components from fewer than all of a plurality of classifications to estimate a probability of latent defects present in the component.
- 32. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of testing a sample of components from fewer than all of a plurality of classifications comprises testing a sample of components from one of a plurality of classifications.
- 33. The method of claim 32, wherein said one of a plurality of classifications from which a sample is tested is a classification corresponding to a maximum number of neighboring components having fatal defects.
- 34. The method of claim 31, wherein said number of neighboring components having fatal defects is determined from a neighborhood of immediately neighboring components.
- 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the neighborhood of immediately neighboring components comprises eight neighboring components surrounding a subject component.
- 36. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of estimating a probability of latent defects present in the component based on said classification comprises determining a ratio of neighboring components having fatal defects to latent defects.
- 37. The method of claim 31, further comprising testing the component if an estimated a probability of latent defects present in the component exceeds a specified rate.
- 38. The method of claim 31, wherein the step of classifying the component comprises separating a plurality of components into a plurality of classifications.
- 39. The method of claim 38, further comprising statistically predicting the reliability of components in each of said plurality of classifications by testing a sample of components from fewer than all of said plurality of classifications.
- 40. The method of claim 31, wherein the component is a die for assembly into a multi-chip module, and wherein said method further comprises rejecting die determined to have a reliability below a specified rate.
- 41. The method of claim 31, wherein the estimation of a probability of latent defects present in the component includes statistically modeling a measure of defect clustering.
- 42. The method of claim 31, further comprising optimizing subsequent testing of the component based on an estimated reliability of the component.
- 43. A method for predicting the reliability of a component, said method comprising:
classifying a component into one of a plurality of classifications based on an initial test for killer defects; and optimizing further testing of the component to identify the presence of latent defects, based on the classification thereof.
- 44. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of optimizing further testing comprises subjecting the component to further testing of a duration dependent on the classification thereof.
- 45. The method of claim 43, wherein the step of optimizing further testing comprises subjecting fewer than all of said plurality of classifications to further testing.
- 46. The method of claim 43, further comprising predicting the reliability of the component based on the initial test and a statistical defect-clustering model.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/347,974, filed Oct. 19, 2001; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/335,108, filed Oct. 23, 2001; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/366,109, filed Mar. 20, 2002; all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties for all purposes.
Provisional Applications (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60347974 |
Oct 2001 |
US |
|
60335108 |
Oct 2001 |
US |
|
60366109 |
Mar 2002 |
US |