Intelligent Methods for Test and Reliability

Test methods that can keep up with the ongoing increase in complexity of semiconductor products and their underlying technologies are an essential prerequisite for maintaining quality and safety of our daily lives and for continued success of our economies and societies. There is a huge potential how test methods can benefit from recent breakthroughs in domains such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, virtual/augmented reality, and security. The Graduate School on “Intelligent Methods for Semiconductor Test and Reliability” (GS-IMTR) at the University of Stuttgart is a large-scale, radically interdisciplinary effort to address the scientific-technological challenges in this domain. It is funded by Advantest, one of the world leaders in automatic test equipment. In this paper, we describe the overall philosophy of the Graduate School and the specific scientific questions targeted by its ten projects.

I. Introduction

Semiconductor technology has been a foundation of scientific progress, societal development and economic growth since decades. Test methods are a main pillar of this technology and are an essential prerequisite for obtaining high-quality products, from low-cost consumer segment to enormously complex and safety-critical installations, at reasonable cost. As a scientific area, test methods are currently undergoing a transformation triggered by the advent of next-generation artificial intelligence technology. Therefore, a new, radically interdisciplinary and large-scale research effort is needed to enable the products of tomorrow and meet the needs of their makers.