Semiconductor device technology is going through rapid changes in order to achieve ultra-large-scale integration. The increasing demand for more complex chip functionality and higher speed have led to decreasing device feature size. Development of new concepts and theories of mechanical reliability of microelectronic devices has been an emerging interdisciplinary subject because of the continual downsizing of the microelectronics devices. This project funds equipment for a laboratopy course on Mechanical Reliability of Microelectronics to be offered to upper-division engineering undergraduate students at Georgia Tech. The objectives of offering such a course to mechanical engineering students are (1) to introduce them to the field of mechanical reliability of microelectronics, (2) to make them aware that there is an urgent need in the electronic industry for mechanical engineers in packaging, and (3) to give them a head start in their engineering careers so they can face technological challenges in the 21st century. The new equipment includes a microtester system and an optical microscopy system.
