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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Assessment and Assurance of Microelectronics Packaging Technology of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS)

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have shown a significant promise in the last decade for a variety of applications such as air-bag, pressure sensors, accelerometer, microgyro, etc. Standard semiconductor microelectronics packaging needs the integrated circuits to be protected from the harsh environment, and provide electrical communication with the other parts of the circuit, facilitate thermal dissipation efficiently, and impart mechanical strength to the silicon die. Microelectronics packaging involves wafer dicing, bonding, lead attachment, encapsulation to protect from the environment, electrical integrity, and package leak tests to assure the packaging technology. In the case of MEMS the microstructures (active elements) often interfaces with the hostile environment where packaging leak tests and testing of such devices using chemical and mechanical parameters will be very difficult and expensive. Packaging of MEMS is significantly complex as they serve to protect from the environment and microstructures interact with the same environment to measure or affect the desired physical or chemical parameters. The most of the silicon circuitry is sensitive to temperature, moisture, magnetic field, light, and electromagnetic interference. The package must then protect the on-board silicon circuitry while simultaneously exposing the microsensor to the effect it 'measures to assure the MEMS technology by lowering the risk to zero. MEMS technology has a major application in developing a microspacecraft for space systems provided assurance of MEMS technology is sufficiently addressed nondestructively. This technology would eventually miniaturize many of the components of the spacecraft to reach the NASA's safety and mission assurance goal by building faster, cheaper, better, smaller spacecraft to explore the space more effectively by teaming-up with the other NASA centers using the limited resources available. This paper discusses the latest developments in the MEMS technology and challenging issues in the packaging of hermetically sealed and non-hermetically sealed MEMS sensor devices based on silicon, poly-silicon, and other materials for microspacecraft applications considering the space environment and reliability assurance qualification guidelines in perspective. Acknowledgments: The above research work is supported by the NASA Electronics Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP) and performed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA under a contract with the NASA - Code Q for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance Program 323-79.

Ramesham, Rajeshuni↗
NASA NTRS2024

The NASA Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) Process Standard

This paper presents status on the upcoming NASA Agency-level RHA Process Standard. Based on recommendations provided by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program has led development of an agency-level standard for space flight avionics and electronics RHA. The standard introduces a novel RHA taxonomy and prescribes the process required by NASA programs and projects to baseline their RHA programs consistent with the MEAL (Mission, Environment, Application, and Lifetime) criteria including the risk tolerance posture. The standard also provides requirements for the RHA schedule integration in the program or project lifecycle and requirements for data deliverables content. Additional non-prescriptive technical content is provided in the standard appendices to guide development of RHA programs for NASA missions.

Avionics↗
NASA NTRS2010

FPGA NEPP : FY09 summary report

This report documents the activities and results of the fiscal year 2009 (FY09) funding for the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) program for re-programmable field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The FY09 task was divided into three efforts: 1. Device physics-based design modifications 2. Contention study of Xilinx Virtex-4 3. IDDQ study of Actel A54SX The FY09 NEPP FPGA study was organized into these three sections in recognition of the continued and increasing importance of FPGAs to NASA. FPGAs represent the state of the art in electronic components with millions and millions of transistors integrated into a single device. Modern NASA spacecraft design has dozens and dozens of FPGAs implemented onboard. FPGAs are used in critical command and data handling, instrument control and monitoring, and communications protocols, to name just a few. The reliability of FPGAs is fundamental to mission success for NASA.

Sheldon, Douglas↗
NASA NTRS2002

Low Temperature Reliability of Electronic Packages/Assemblies for Space Missions

A NASA-wide team, funded under the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP), was formed to collaborate and to establish reliability of various electronic parts/packaging and assemblies for operation under extreme cold temperatures. One of the primary objectives of the NEPP is to expedite the infusion of cutting edge technologies into the present and future NASA missions. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) emerging electronic parts/packages due to their lower weight, increased functionality, and lower cost are excellent candidates for space missions if they are characterized to show that they will meet the stringent reliability and quality requirements. Characterizations, especially for the extreme cold temperatures, are required since very limited data are available by manufacturers or users. For severe military environments, the temperature conditions to -65 C are the lowest temperature for which these parts/packages and assemblies are qualified. New data beyond this relatively benign cold temperature are required for numerous NASA missions. Several parts/packages, based on the project recommendation for their immediate and future needs, were selected for detailed characterization to cold temperature regimes down to liquid nitrogen (-196 C), covering both Mars cold temperature (-125 C) and asteroid (- 180 C) lander environmental requirements. Numerous parts/packages and assemblies were characterized during extreme temperature environmental tests. Several electrical parameters were characterized at discrete temperatures to -185 C to determine if they remain within their specification ranges. Both packages and circuit boards were subjected to nondestructive testing including optical, X-ray, and acoustic microscopy to document their integrity prior to environment exposure. Package/board assemblies were also subjected to X-ray to characterize solder joint integrity including void levels. Both parts and assemblies were subjected to thermal cycling with a large temperature swing enveloping numerous NASA missions. Details of the performed tests and the results obtained are presented.

Patterson, Richard L.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Active and Passive Supplier Assessment Program (ASAP & PSAP) WWW Sites http://nepp.nasa.gov/imd/asap http://nepp.nasa.gov/imd/psap

The Active and Passive Supplier Assessment Programs (ASAP and PSAP) WWW Sites provide general information to the electronic parts community regarding the availability of electronic parts. They also provide information to NASA regarding modifications to commonly used procurement specifications and test methods. The ASAP and PSAP www sites are ongoing resources produced by Code 562 in support of the NASA HQ funded NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program. These WWW sites do not provide information pertaining to patented or proprietary information. All of the information contained in these www sites is available through various other public domain resources such as US Military Qualified Producers Listings (QPLs) and Qualified Manufacturer Listings (QMLs) and industry working groups such as the Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA) and the Space Parts Working Group (SPWG).

Brusse, Jay↗
NASA NTRS2000

NASA Parts Selection List (NPSL) WWW Site http://nepp.nasa.gov/npsl

The NASA Parts Selection List (NPSL) is an on-line resource for electronic parts selection tailored for use by spaceflight projects. The NPSL provides a list of commonly used electronic parts that have a history of satisfactory use in spaceflight applications. The objective of this www site is to provide NASA projects, contractors, university experimenters, et al with an easy to use resource that provides a baseline of electronic parts from which designers are encouraged to select. The NPSL is an ongoing resource produced by Code 562 in support of the NASA HQ funded NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program. The NPSL is produced as an electronic format deliverable made available via the referenced www site administered by Code 562. The NPSL does not provide information pertaining to patented or proprietary information. All of the information contained in the NPSL is available through various other public domain resources such as US Military procurement specifications for electronic parts, NASA GSFC's Preferred Parts List (PPL-21), and NASA's Standard Parts List (MIL-STD975).

Brusse, Jay↗
NASA NTRS2010

NEPP non-volatile memory : FY09 summary report

This report documents the activities and results of the fiscal year 2009 (FY09) funding for the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) program for non-volatile memory (NVM) devices. The FY09 task was divided into two main efforts: 1. Development of in-house measurement capability for flash devices 2. Reliability characterization of multi-level vs. single-level flash devices The FY09 NEPP Non Volatile Memory study was organized into these two sections in recognition of the continued and increasing importance of NVM to NASA. All NASA missions use NVM for boot code storage and some limited data archiving. Space-grade NVM has lagged commercial NVM development by many orders of magnitude, however. This gap in density only continues to increase as space-grade memories remain constant in the 1–16 Mbit levels, while commercial flash-based devices shrink in size and double in capacity every 18 months. Commercial flash devices are now at the 32 Gbit level, 10,000 times denser than current NASA NVM. This FY marks the beginning of a significant technological transition in NVM for NASA. The aggressive scaling of commercial NVMs has, as a by-product, made some of the flash devices radiation-tolerant enough to be at least considered for low-level radiation environment missions [Irom 2008]. This NEPP task is focused on understanding the reliability and potential future applications of such highly scaled flash memories.

Heidecker, Jason↗
NASA NTRS2009

Evaluation methodology guidance for stack packages

This report provides evaluation methodology guidance based on previous National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reports and literature surveys for 3D stack packages and assemblies. Two aspects of technology are covered: the package itself (guidance for functional packages) and package assembly manufacturing and reliability. This work was funded by the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program. The objectives of this NEPP project are to: Perform a literature survey of 3D stack technology; perform a literature survey on the evaluation methodology for 3D package and assembly; combine the two aspects to provide evaluation methodology for both aspects with consideration of interactions between package and assembly; generate guidance on the evaluation methodology for 3D stack package integrity prior to and after assembly; provide recommendations on future experimental activities. The qualification and evaluation methodology guidelines will facilitate NASA projects in effectively evaluating the reliability of very dense and newly available high-density 3D stack packages, allowing more processing power in a smaller board footprint and lower system weight.

Gerke, David↗
NASA NTRS2000

Technology Validation of Optical Fiber Cables for Space Flight Environments

Periodically, commercially available (COTS) optical fiber cable assemblies are characterized for space flight usage under the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP). The purpose of this is to provide a family of optical fiber cable options to a variety of different harsh environments typical to space flight missions. The optical fiber cables under test are evaluated to bring out known failure mechanisms that are expected to occur during a typical mission. The tests used to characterize COTS cables include: (1) vacuum exposure, (2) thermal cycling, and (3) radiation exposure. Presented here are the results of the testing conducted at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on COTS optical fiber cables over this past year. Several optical fiber cables were characterized for their thermal stability both during and after thermal cycling. The results show how much preconditioning is necessary for a variety of available cables to remain thermally stable in a space flight environment. Several optical fibers of dimensions 100/140/172 microns were characterized for their radiation effects at -125 C using the dose rate requirements of International Space Station. One optical fiber cable in particular was tested for outgassing to verify whether an acrylate coated fiber could be used in a space flight optical cable configuration.

Ott, Melanie N.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Environmental Stress Testing of the Single Sample Cylinder: A Proven Consensus Standard for Internal Gas Analysis (IGA) or Residual Gas Analysis (RGA)

In August 2008, Schuessler Consulting was contracted by NASA GSFC in support of the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) program to perform two separate studies on moisture laden air in a stainless steel cylinder that had been designed to become a consensus standard for Test Method 1018. This Test Method was originally released for hybrids under Mil. Std. 883 but was quickly utilized on other microelectronic devices under the auspice of Mil. Std. 750. The cylinder had subsequently been fabricated for the 750 community. It was back-filled with moist air and subsequently analyzed over a period of time under a previous NASA contract. It had been shown that moisture in the 4000 - 5000 ppm range could be analyzed rather precisely with a mass spectrometer, commonly referred to as a Residual Gas Analyzer (RGA). The scope of this study was to ascertain if the composition and precision varied as a function of thermal shock at sub-zero temperatures and whether there was consensus when the standard was submitted to other RGA units. It was demonstrated and published that the consensus standard would yield precise RGA data for moisture within +/- 1% when optimized for a given RGA unit. It has been subsequently shown in this study at Oneida Research Services, that sub-zero storage did not affect that precision when a well-defined protocol for the analysis was followed. The consensus standard was taken to a second facility for analysis where it was found that moisture adsorption on the transfer lines caused precision to drop to +/- 12%. The Single Sample Cylinder (SSC) is a one liter stainless steel cylinder with associated sampling valves and has considerable weight and volume. But this considerable size allows for approximately 300 gas samples of the same composition to be delivered to any RGA unit. Lastly, a smaller cylinder, approximately 75 cc, of a second consensus standard was fabricated and tested with a different mix of fixed gases where moisture was kept in the 100 ppm range. This second standard has the potential of providing 30 gaseous samples and can be readily shipped to any analytical facility that desires to generate comparison RGA data. A series of comparison residual gas analyses was performed at the Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies facility in the National Nuclear Facility Administration s plant in Kansas City to complete this project. It was shown that improvements in the precision of a given RGA unit can be done by controlling the cycle time for each analysis and increasing analysis temperatures to minimize moisture adsorption. It was also found that a "one time event" in the subzero storage of the large SSC did not effect the units ability to continuously supply precise samples of the same chemistry, however the "event" caused a permanent +8% shift in the reported value of the moisture content. Lastly, a set of SSC RGA results was plotted on a common graph with DSCC "correlation study" RGA data. The result demonstrates the ability of the SSC to remove many of the individual variances that single, individual samples introduce. The consensus standards are now in storage at Oneida Research Services, one of the DSCC certified houses that does RGA to Military Standards, where they await future studies. The analytical data and the operational parameters of the instruments used are provided in the following discussion. Limitations and suggested means for improvement of both precision and accuracy are provided.

Schuessler, Philipp WH↗
NASA NTRS2002

Commercial-Off-The-Shelf Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Flow-Measurement Probes Fabricated And Assembled

As an alternative to conventional tubing instrumentation for measuring airflow, designers and technicians at the NASA Glenn Research Center have been fabricating packaging components and assembling a set of unique probes using commercial-off-the-shelf microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) integrated circuits (computer chips). Using MEMS as an alternative has some compelling advantages over standard measurement devices. Sensor technologies have matured through high-production usage in industries such as automotive and aircraft manufacturers. Currently, MEMS are the choice in applications such as tire pressure monitors, altimeters, pneumatic controls, cable leak detectors, and consumer appliances. Conventional instrumentation uses tubing buried in the model aerodynamic surfaces or wind tunnel walls. The measurements are made when pressure is introduced at the tube opening. The pressure then must travel the tubing for lengths ranging from 20 to hundreds of feet before reaching an electronic signal conditioner. This condition causes a considerable amount of damping and requires measurements to be made only after the test rig has reached steady-state operation. The electronic MEMS pressure sensor is able to take readings continuously under dynamic states in nearly real time. The use of stainless steel tubing for pressure measurements requires many tubes to be cleaned, cut to length, carefully installed, and delicately deburred and spliced for use. A cluster of a few hundred 1/16-in.- (0.0625-in.-) diameter tubes (not uncommon in research testing facilities) can be several inches in diameter and may weigh enough to require two men to handle. Replacing hard tubing with electronic chips can eliminate much of the bulk. Each sensor would fit on the tip of the 1/16-in. tubing with room to spare. The P592 piezoresistive silicon pressure sensor (Lucas NovaSensor, Fremont, CA) was chosen for this project because of its cost, availability, and tolerance to extreme ambient conditions. The chip is 1 mm square by 0.6 mm thick (0.039 by 0.023 in.) with 0.12-mm (0.005-in.) wire connection tabs. Three MEMS chips were used to build the first type of flow-angularity probe. This MEMS probe will be demonstrated as an alternative to a standard tube type "Cobra Probe" now used routinely in wind tunnel and aeronautical hardware applications. The response time and accuracy would allow the probe to be translated on an actuator across a flow field, yielding precision dynamic measurements not possible with conventional instrumentation. The low profile, the minimal power requirement, the rugged construction, and the moderate cost all contribute to making MEMS sensors the enticing choice instrument in future research measurement needs. The MEMS probe efforts are a continuation of work initiated by Brian Willis, without whose foresight and efforts this project would never have been realized. This task was funded through cooperation with the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Redding, Chip↗
NASA NTRS2006

Photonic Component Qualification and Implementation Activities at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The photonics group in Code 562 at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center supports a variety of space flight programs at NASA including the: International Space Station (ISS), Shuttle Return to Flight Mission, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Express Logistics Carrier, and the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP). Through research, development, and testing of the photonic systems to support these missions much information has been gathered on practical implementations for space environments. Presented here are the highlights and lessons learned as a result of striving to satisfy the project requirements for high performance and reliable commercial optical fiber components for space flight systems. The approach of how to qualify optical fiber components for harsh environmental conditions, the physics of failure and development lessons learned will be discussed.

Ott, Melanie N.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Flash Memory Reliability: Read, Program, and Erase Latency Versus Endurance Cycling

This report documents the efforts and results of the fiscal year (FY) 2010 NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program (NEPP) task for nonvolatile memory (NVM) reliability. This year's focus was to measure latency (read, program, and erase) of NAND Flash memories and determine how these parameters drift with erase/program/read endurance cycling.

latency↗
NASA NTRS2012

The Effects of Thermal Cycling on Gallium Nitride and Silicon Carbide Semiconductor Devices for Aerospace Use

Electronics designed for use in NASA space missions are required to work efficiently and reliably under harsh environment conditions. These Include radiation, extreme temperatures, thermal cycling, to name a few. Preliminary data obtained on new Gallium Nitride and Silicon Carbide power devices under exposure to radiation followed by long term thermal cycling are presented. This work was done in collaboration with GSFC and JPL in support of the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program

Patterson, Richard L.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Advanced CMOS Radiation Effects Testing and Analysis

Presentation at the annual NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program Electronic Technology Workshop (ETW). The material includes an update of progress in this NEPP task area over the past year, which includes testing, evaluation, and analysis of radiation effects data on the IBM 32 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The testing was conducted using test vehicles supplied by directly by IBM.

cmos↗
NASA NTRS2014

Aeroflex Technology as Class-Y Demonstrator

Modern space field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices with increased functional density and operational frequency, such as Xilinx Virtex 4 (V4) and S (V5), are packaged in non-hermetic ceramic flip chip forms. These next generation space parts were not qualified to the MIL-PRF-38535 Qualified Manufacturer Listing (QML) class-V when they were released because class-V was only intended for hermetic parts. In order to bring Xilinx V5 type packages into the QML system, it was suggested that class-Y be set up as a new category. From 2010 through 2014, a JEDEC G12 task group developed screening and qualification requirements for Class-Y products. The Document Standardization Division of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has completed an engineering practice study. In parallel with the class-Y efforts, the NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) program has funded JPL to study potential reliability issues of the class-Y products. The major hurdle of this task was the absence of adequate research samples. Figure 1-1 shows schematic diagrams of typical structures of class-Y type products. Typically, class-Y products are either in ceramic flip chip column grid array (CGA) or land grid array (LGA) form. In class-Y packages, underfill and heat spread adhesive materials are directly exposed to the spacecraft environment due to their non-hermeticity. One of the concerns originally raised was that the underfill material could degrade due to the spacecraft environment and negatively impact the reliability of the package. In order to study such issues, it was necessary to use ceramic daisy chain flip chip package samples so that continuity of flip chip solder bumps could be monitored during the reliability tests. However, none of the commercially available class-Y daisy chain parts had electrical connections through flip chip solder bumps; only solder columns were daisy chained, which made it impossible to test continuity of flip chip solder bumps without using extremely costly functional parts. Among space parts manufacturers who were interested in producing class-Y products, Aeroflex Microelectronic Solutions-HiRel had been developing assembly processes using their internal R&D classy type samples. In early 2012, JPL and Aeroflex initiated a collaboration to study reliability of the Aeroflex technology as a class-Y demonstrator.

Suh, Jong-ook↗