A Hybrid Modelling Approach for Parameter Estimation of Analytical Reflection Models in the Failure Analysis Process of Semiconductors

Electronic devices are one of the key factors for recent advances in smart production systems or automotive. Reliability and robustness are key issues. To further increase this reliability, occurring failures in an electronic device has to be investigated in post-production failure analysis processes. One recent technique to detect and locate failures in electronic components is Time-Domain Reflectometry. This method offers the chance to detect several kinds of failures (e.g. a hard or soft failure) and localize the failure nondestructively. In theory, this can be determined following defined physical formulas. Nevertheless, the received signals are not perfect and mixed with noise from the measurement device or disturbed by nonoptimal material properties. In addition, complex architectures of devices are hard to model based on analytical models. Thus, these models solely are not sufficient for the failure analysis process. For this reason, a hybrid modeling approach is proposed, using a Machine Learning model in combination with physical models to detect and characterize the failure and its exact position. The Machine Learning model will be trained with simulated Time-Domain Reflectometry data.