Component Reliability for Electronic Systems
RF Cafe Quiz #37

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Note: Some material based on books have quoted passages.

Component Reliability for Electronic Systems This quiz is based on the information presented in Component Reliability for Electronic Systems, authored by Titu-Marius I. Bajenescu & Marius I. Bazu. Published by Artech House. Note: Some of these books are available as prizes in the monthly RF Cafe Giveaway.

1.  What are the two main components of product quality?

a)  Price and volume

b)  Price and manufacturability

c)  Conformity and reliability

d)  Brand recognition and country of origin

2.  What are the two main ways to quantify the reliability of a system?

a)  Spreadsheet equations and designer experience

b)  Company reputation and user habits

c)  Distributor marketing and the "greenness" of the product

d)  Laboratory tests, field operational data

3.  TQM (Total Quality Management) requires which behaviors?

a)  Teamwork & professional

b)  Commitment & motivation

c)  Personal adoption of the concept by everyone

d)  All the above

4.  A properly designed Accelerated Lift Test (ACL) must do what?

a)  Pass through all states, in the same order as normal, but in shorter time

b)  Subject in random order the UUT to conditions well beyond normal operational conditions

c)  Perform a computer simulation of the lifetime of a components or system

d)  All the above

5.  What are some key components of meaningful failure analysis?

a)  Knowing who to blame it on and determining appropriate punishment

b)  Knowledge of the failure mechanism and establishment of the consequences

c)  Having an effective Public Relations (PR) plan in place to handle the media

d)  Offering an upgrade at a reasonable cost to pacify angry users

6.  What type of failure has the highest occurrence in semiconductors?

a)  Connection defects

b)  Metallization defects

c)  Oxide defects

d)  Die defects

7.  Which of the following are likely causes for passive component failure?

a)  Fatigue

b)  Design errors

c)  Manufacturing errors

d)  All the above

8.  What is radiation hardness?

a)  Immunity to failure due to radiation, wave or particle

b)  Physical hardening of IC packaging using radiation

c)  Prevention of radiation from ICs to other components

d)  A scale of 1 to 10 that rates radioactive poisoning

9.  What is the well-known Arrhenius model determine the relationship for?

a)  Relationship between gate thickness and switching speed

b)  Relationship between voltage and current

c)  Relationship between failure rate and device junction temperature

d)  Relationship between vibration level and mechanical cracking

10.  What is a failure mode unique to MEMS devices compared to traditional ICs?

a)  Spatial disorientation

b)  Color shifting

c)  Moving parts can fail

d)  No unique failure types

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