A Quick Guide to AEC-Q100 Revision for Automotive Chip Reliability Verification

Currently, most automotive semiconductor component application processes use mature processes of 28 nanometers or above, with only a few automotive chips, such as those used in ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) applications, employing processes of 14 nanometers or below. As vehicles need to process vast amounts of data and provide feedback, traditional packaging formats like QFP (Quad Flat Package) can no longer fully meet the demands of advanced automotive chips, such as microcontrollers (MCUs) and high-performance computing (HPC) chips. Therefore, the application of packages like BGA (Ball Grid Array) and FC-BGA (Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array) has become more widespread.

However, in the previous version, AEC-Q100 REV-H, the specifications did not provide detailed guidelines for processes and specific packaging formats. In this revision J, AEC-Q100 has introduced definitions of the ESD (Electrical Static Discharge) tolerance for 28-nanometer process and RF frequency components, and FC-BGA packaging tests to ensure the reliability of these components in automotive applications.

Furthermore, to fully meet the requirements of FC-BGA products, when considering the inclusion of family products, specific attributes related to flip-chip packaging should be taken into account. It’s essential to highlight that bare die products and wafer-level chip scale packaging (WLCSP) are outside the scope of these attribute lists.

What should be done when abnormalities or failures occur in automotive electronic components during the AEC-Q100 verification process? Do you need to start from scratch? This has been a persistent question for many. The Version-J specification mentions that effective failure analysis can be carried out using the 8D Report (Eight Discipline Methodology, referring to JESD 671^note) and establishing appropriate improvement procedures. These improvement measures should be validated and tracked for effectiveness and accuracy.

Once the defects are resolved, the next step is to ensure that automotive electronic components can operate normally under various complex and potential failure conditions and maintain product performance within the expected service life (usually 10 to 15 years). To achieve this goal, the Mission Profile flowchart (Figure 2) and the Knowledge-Based Test Methodology (KBTM) proposed in JESD 94^note can be used to determine an appropriate testing plan. Communication with end users to define a suitable Mission Profile is also recommended.

In this latest revision of AEC-Q100, there have been slight adjustments to the test content for PC (Precondition Test), THB (Temperature Humidity Bias Test), UHAST (Unbiased Highly Accelerated Stress Test), and SD (Solderability test). However, more significant changes in test items and conditions are as follows:

1. The mandatory prerequisite for component qualification now includes whether the copper wire (Cu wire) used in automotive electronic components has obtained AEC-Q006 verification data.
2. The wafer-level reliability verification item has changed NBTI (Negative Bias Temperature Instability) to BTI (Bias Temperature Instability) to encompass both NBTI and PBTI (Positive Bias Temperature Instability) for current CMOS technology.
3. The number of cycles in Grade 0 of Temperature Cycling Test (TCT) has been reduced from 2000 cycles to 1500 cycles, and it now requires SAT testing (Scanning Acoustic Tomography) to confirm any delamination inside the chip after TCT (including all temperature grades).
4. Power Temperature Cycling Test (PTC) is only applicable to devices with power dissipation ≥1 watt and power rise times <0.1 seconds resulting in junction temperature (Tj) changes ≥40°C are anticipated.
5. For High Temperature Operating Life Test (HTOL), drift analysis of electrical parameters is required under applicable conditions. The FT test sequence defined as Room→Cold→Hot can be alternated with Room→Hot→Cold.
6. Bump Shear Test (BST) item has been added for FC-BGA packaging.
7. Due to the different ESD tolerance of 28-nanometer and RF chips compared to general automotive chips, changes have been made to the ESD test requirements (see Table 1 for details).