Plastic Encapsulated Microcircuit Storage Accelerated Age Model

Foster-Miller proposes to develop an accelerated age model for plastic encapsulated electronics in storage environments. Foster-Miller will team with Dr. Michael Pecht of the Computer-Aided Life-Cycle Engineering (CALCE) Electronics Packaging Research Center (EPRC) at the University of Maryland. The model will be based on physics of failure models of the mechanisms that lead to failure. Our approach to the problem is based on two innovations: (1) Foster-Miller will, for the first time, integrate the numerous existing POF models of individual failure mechanisms into a single AAM that addresses all operative failure mechanisms for PEMs in storage environments, and (2) Foster-Miller will develop strategies for acquiring the detailed geometry and materials property data that is required as input to the models. The software Foster-Miller develops will allow designers of Army electronics to predict the reliability of commercial off-the-shelf plastic encapsulated microelectronics. The use of the components will greatly reduce the costs of DoD electronics assemblies.