Overview

The reliability of all Volterra products is assured through rigorous qualification and appropriate Ongoing Reliability Monitoring (ORM). Each new product at Volterra is subject to the qualification requirements as stipulated in SOP-QR-0022. In addition, key products are chosen as representative of various product families or process technologies and subjected to Ongoing Reliability Monitoring. For device reliability, two key metrics are reported; the Early Failure Rate (EFR) expressed in Defects Parts per Million (DPM) and the Long Term Failure Rate, expressed in Failures In Time (FIT rate = the predicted number of failures in a billion device-hours of operation at 55ºC junction temperature). Both are calculated at 60% confidence using the Chi-square distribution. The EFR, based on 48 hours of stress, estimates the failure level during the early field life of a system, typically several months. The Long Term Failure Rates based on 1000 hours of stress, estimates the failure level during the life of the system. (See the Calculation Methodology section section for more information.) Together, the EFR and the High Temperature Operation Life (HTOL) data allow us to estimate the reliability of Volterra products, uncover potential reliability failure mechanisms and drive continuous improvement in the wafer fab.

As part of the qualification process, package reliability is also assessed via appropriate environmental stress tests.

The following tables provide statistics for Volterra's product and package reliability tests.

Table of Reliability Tests

For more information about Volterra's reliability processes and procedures, please contact quality@volterra.com.