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DfR Solutions has expertise and experience in failure analysis and is a leader in identifying systematic defects that have significantly affected the electronics industry.  Examples that highlight our experience doing failure analysis can be found on our Publications and White Papers pages.  Included on these pages are articles that cover ceramic capacitor cracking, electrolytic capacitor failures, and printed wiring board defects.

Effective failure analysis is critical to product reliability. Without identifying the root causes of failure, true corrective action cannot be implemented and the risk of repeat occurrence increases.

DfR Solutions takes a systematic approach to failure analysis proceeding from non-destructive to destructive methods until all root causes are conclusively identified. We choose the appropriate techniques based upon the failure information (failure history, failure mode, failure site, failure mechanism) specific to your product.

Our Approach

The information-gathering process is the crucial first step in any failure analysis effort. We obtain information through interviews with all the members of your production team from suppliers, manufacturers, designers, reliability team, and management to the end-user.

Clarity is brought to the discussion through the use of standard nomenclature:

Failure History

• All change in bill of materials (BOM), and manufacturing
• Time in the product life cycle
• Stresses experienced by the product

Failure Mode

• Failure behavior experienced by the observer

Failure Site

• Supposed location of the failure

Failure Mechanism

• Mechanism initiating the failure (not root cause)

The next step in failure analysis is to conduct a non-destructive evaluation (NDE) of the product. NDE is designed to provide maximum information with minimal risk of damaging or destroying physical evidence. This evaluation method includes:

• Visual Inspection
• Electrical Characterization
• Acoustic Microscopy
• X-ray Microscopy
• Thermal Imaging
• SQUID Microscopy

And the next step is to conduct a destructive evaluation (DE) to reveal the internal structure of the sample.

• Decapsulation
• Microsectioning
• Focused Ion Beam
• SEM Analysis