- Proper IC Storage -- Counterfeiting --- “No Lead” - Fuels the Fire November 14, 2007 John O’Boyle QP Semiconductor Santa Clara, CA

- Proper IC Storage-- Counterfeiting--- “No Lead” - Fuels the Fire

November 14, 2007John O’Boyle

QP Semiconductor

Santa Clara, CA

Today’s 3 Topics

• We have a lot to cover but I hope to make it interesting and educational, too.

• Proper IC Storage– Brief Tutorial – Common misconceptions

• Counterfeiting – this is an ongoing topic – How we got to the present “situation” (IMHO)– Examples of Counterfeiting – What to look for!

• Lead (Pb) Free, a caution– A questionable journey

• Summary

Proper IC Storage

Proper IC Storage

• Clearly for long-term programs some form of storage should be considered. – Long-term storage may present problems –

practical/physical space, mechanical, financial, and counterfeit products.

– With appropriate care, ICs can be stored at the die/wafer level, or as “finished goods” (packaged).

• What do we mean by long-term storage? – Commercial: 2 years is very long-term.– Military: 20 years and beyond is common.

Die/wafer Storagea.k.a “Die Banking”

• Successful storage methodologies include special bagging, environmental controls and periodic monitoring. – Requires care, cleanliness (particulates and gases), and benign temperatures.

• IDMs do this. But few, if any, distributors do.

– Controlled atmosphere “dry boxes” (dry nitrogen purged storage).

– Dry bagged/vacuum storage. – Oxygen barrier bags designed specifically for long-term storage.

• Compact – container on the right holds 9 wafers with gross die count of 64,000. (Note – Data CD in photo)

• Flexible form factor – can build parts in any desired package.

Die/wafer Storage Advantages

Hermetic Packages

• Minimize moisture intrusion

• 20 year storage is routine– Metal TO “can” – Ceramic and side-brazed packages

• DIP, LCC, flat pack, and PGA

• Keep them dry and in environments low in sulfur, chlorine, and hydrocarbons to preserve solder finish on lead frame.

Hermetic Disadvantages/Advantages

• Cannot change package type.

• Slightly more expensive to store than die bank.

• Large storage space required.

• Easy storage infrastructure.

• Long life time storage.

Common Misconceptionsabout Plastic

• “They” come from the manufacturer in sealed packaging and thus don’t need special handling/storage.

• “They” are rated as not-moisture sensitive and thus are okay.

• “They” are safe to store in a “normal room” environment.

Plastic Packages• Plastic is hygroscopic

– Attracts water molecules from the environment.

– Achieve equilibrium in 4 to 28 days depending on molding compound.

– Normal room considered “wet” for plastic ICs (LAX annual average RH: +70%*)

– Store in “dry bags” or in a <10% RH environment

Source: Plastic Package Moisture-Induced Cracking, April 2006, National Semiconductor Application Note

* LAX weather station - indoor data over 31 years.

Wait a Minute!

• “4 days?” – That’s for the moisture to reach equilibrium,

it takes a longer time for damage to occur.

• “Normal room is WET?” – Well, when the device is turned on the die

heats and the moisture is driven out.

– But you don’t normally store them powered up, do you?

But, Water doesn’t hurt Plastic!• It’s not the plastic we’re worried about!

– Water leaches: • Materials out of the mold compound

• Elements in the gases in the environment

• Other materials deposited on the outside of the package.

– These corrode and degrade the aluminum pads and wires. Which ends in device failure.

• Isn’t plastic “rated” as non-moisture sensitive?– Yes. But this is for IC/board assembly. It is a rating for

re-flow solder heat induced de-lamination and popcorning.

Contrary to popular belief: It is not a rating for long-term storage!

IC Storage: Good and Bad News

• Good: You can store wafers, die, or packages– Wafers or hermetic parts; store in a dry environment.

– Plastic finished goods require a dry environment with periodic monitoring.

– Having spares essentially eradicates the problem of locating EOL/obsolete parts in the future.

• Bad: May be prohibited by regulation (FAR). – FAR often limits procurement to one or two years.

– Systems manufacturers have rarely funded this long-term procurement on their “own dollar.”

Storage Options: Summary

Counterfeiting

• Across All Industries From Auto Parts to Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals.– Pharmaceuticals: $32 Billion annual loss

• One pharmaceuticals company uses GPS on armored vehicles to track and protect their Pharmaceuticals during transport.

– Ford estimates a $1 Billion loss due to counterfeit replacement parts.

• Counterfeiting Poses a Real and Serious Threat to Global Public Health and Safety.

How BIG is the Problem?

• Estimates place 2006 losses due to counterfeiting at $650 Billion dollars*!– If ranked as National GDP – that would be

the 18th largest country in the world

– Just behind Australia at $666 Billion • Out of the 227 countries listed in the 2006 CIA

World Factbook!

*Source: Global trade in counterfeit goods is booming January 26, 2007 Business Report & Independent Online

How did we* get Here?• Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) – Partly to

blame (IMHO)• What was the “Original Idea”? (A quick review)

– It worked pretty well, right?

• What happened as time passed? – Demand shifted– NLA appeared on POs– “Opportunists” stepped in

• What’s to be done? (Now that the “COT” is out of the bag?)

* The Military and Aerospace Community

In the Beginning (Remember the $5000 hammer?)

• The basic concept was to get state-of-the-art devices at significantly lower prices.

• That worked and as manufacturers embraced COTS, semiconductor users reported:– Significant savings versus “Mil-spec”

– Much higher performance (basically generation jumps)

• Ok, you so hear a “Yeah, BUT …” Coming??

Well, How About an “Except?”

• COTS worked pretty well – “EXCEPT”– When OEMs needed “tracking” or “specials”

– When it took a long time to start a program

– When the customer wanted more systems years later

• So the exceptions created a secondary demand for custom/older/hard-to-get parts and created a new industry – the one serving the DMS/Obsolete Parts Market

It’s just one little, teeny small change

And Two Things Happened

One - Semiconductor Demand Shifted

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

Per

cen

t

Mil/Gov Corporate Consumer

Source 1965-2005:

Forecast

http://www.sia-online.org/home.cfm

As Time Went On

• The commercial market for ICs exploded – – In 1965 almost 80% of semiconductor demand was gov,

about 20% corp, and consumer was almost immeasurable.

– By 1995 mil/gov was 10%, corp was 62% and consumer was 28% and COTS was entering the “mainstream.”

– In 2005 mil/gov was 4%, corporate was 44% and consumer was 52%!

• And the IDMs had lost sight of the mil/gov customer.

• And the trend is continuing – by 2010 consumer is projected to reach over 60% and mil/gov will be in the noise at 1%! [Don’t forget, COTS is in Consumer!]

Two – Parts Became “NLA”

• As program life lengthened parts became “No Longer Available.”– Unanticipated shortages became a very real

part of the problem and made long-range planning a much more important activity.

• “Unanticipated” because the commercial segment (The big “C” in COTS) used a technology and then, having used it, moved on (sorry, Omar Khayyam)

• While mil/gov designed for a longer time horizon and expected the parts to be there when ordered.

NLA

What Can We Do???

First, recognize that the divergence between consumer and mil/gov demand (exacerbated by the move to COTS) means that shortages are now a part of life.

Given that, we can 1.Store the parts, which we covered

previously, or if that’s not feasible then:

2.Develop a future buying plan.

Future BuyOr - Keynesian Economics at work

• This is tricky – the shortage of obsolete COTS parts on one side with high demand on the other has created very high prices for the remaining few devices.

• And the high prices have given rise to the counterfeit market. – We have ALL essentially created an opportunity for

unscrupulous vendors to enter the market by demanding the lowest price and /or unreasonable delivery times

• Which they are happy to say they can accommodate!

Further Complication

• Many counterfeit products are potentially functional in systems, making detection difficult.

• Many times genuine good parts are “salted” into the mix of counterfeits.

• IDM’s don’t have the ability to trace back older products and even if they did, counterfeiters can use valid part marking and lot numbers if they copy original examples.

• Government oversight doesn’t have resources to interdict, prosecute or incarcerate/fine.

To Illustrate: Which is the real Cypress UVPROM?

Which is Real?

• Couple of facts:– Both pass all electrical tests, including temp.– The bottom has lower power consumption and

is slightly faster on some AC tests – equal on others – all well within spec.

• Top one is original Cypress part.

• Bottom is a QP Semi, DSCC approved, part.

• Bottom was re-marked as Cypress by third party.

• Not a Shinko “Flat” glass header

• No stress relief step @ lead egress (chipouts)

• Date code H9923 – H is correct for Philippine assembly but NSC EOL’d in 1996, final shipments 1997, NOT 1999!

A Closer Look at Counterfeit ICsExample: Counterfeit National LM710

710 Solder dewetting

710s Side-by-Side

Counterfeit LM710 DIE Does not appear to be National Die

Real National LM710 DieNote, correct product code “D”

Example #2: CYPRESS 7CY403

External part marking for Cypress marked device. Note “suspicious” LOGO. But it is pretty close.

The Correct LogoFor the period

CYPRESS Inside? 403?

IDT Die in Cypress marked package

And, it’s the wrong part number!

Example #3: Signetics – LED Driver?Correct part number and the logo looks okay. - WHAT’S WRONG? Look again!

In 1996 there was no Signetics, it was Phillips!

And the dieshows ST!Date 1989!

CC1368FCCF9622C

Counterfeit and OriginalAs indicated earlier – Philips!

Note: the correct date reference

More on the Signetics Part

What we received

What it should have been

Very high density, without measuring Probably 0.65 m.

You can see the transistors.Probably 3.0 m and correctlayout and devices for the vintage.

Lead (Pb) Free

– a good idea?

Lead (Pb) free – CAUTION

• Watch out for unleaded parts being sold as having Pb solder coatings – will have tin whisker problems, especially in space.– And vice versa

• Also be aware that as Pb free promulgates the market, many Pb parts will become hard to get.– Counterfeiters will likely have offerings here, too.

– It is possible to re-plate but yields will be affected.

Some Simple Battery Math

’05 car & light truck 66,500,000 / yr – worldwide



“Installed Auto Base” About 600,000,000 – worldwide




Replacements (5 yr average life) 600/5 = 120,000,000/yr




Replacements (5 yr average life) 600/5 = 120,000,000 / yr

New plus replacements (66.5 + 120) = 186,500,000 / yr






Or monthly total car batteries (186.5 / 12) = 15,500,000 / mo







TI – Car battery “equivalents” 100 / mo (from illustration)








TI is about 5.7% Semi total 1750 / mo for entire industry









“Equivalents” / total batteries 0.0113 % (1750/15,500,000)









“Equivalents” / total batteries 0.0113 % (1750/15,500,000)

Boats (2+ batteries ea), planes, industrial, trucks/busses, etc.

Lowers further to about: 0.008%

In Other words: Of all the Pb consumed annually just in batteries, Semiconductors represent 0.008%

DC to SF = 2419 air mi x 0.008%

[less than 50% of the yellow line]

That’s about the first 1000

feet of the journey!

Said Another Way

Summary• Storage is a reasonable solution – but planning

and care are required, especially for plastic. – Wafer/die banking is best.



• Counterfeiters are getting more bold across industries.




• The Buyer is the Key Link in the chain!• The IDMs have approved channels – use them!




• The Buyer is the Key Link in the chain!• The IDMs have approved channels – use them!

• For DMSMS watch out for false Certs on Pb-free.

Thank you QP Semiconductor

Military, Aerospace, and High Reliability IC Manufacturer

Currently Supporting over 3,100 DSCC Listed Products

John O’BoyleNew Business Development Director

QP Semiconductor, Inc.

2945 Oakmead Village Court

Santa Clara, CA 95051 USA

408-737-0992 x 145408-736-8708 fax

Documents

- Proper IC Storage -- Counterfeiting --- “No Lead” - Fuels the Fire November 14, 2007 John O’Boyle QP Semiconductor Santa Clara, CA