Power Electronics Facility - Failure Analysis and Inspection

The Power Electronics Reliability Facility provides advanced failure analysis capabilities to identify defects and failure mechanisms in electronic components and assemblies without causing unnecessary damage to samples. The equipment is funded through Innovate UK's Driving the Electric Revolution programme.

Equipment

• Scanning Acoustic Microscope: The AMI D9650Z from Nordson enables non-destructive inspection of semiconductor devices using acoustic imaging. It detects internal defects such as voids, delamination, and bond integrity in power modules, supporting failure analysis, process development, and quality control.

• Decapsulation system: The JetEtch Pro enables controlled chemical decapsulation of semiconductor packages using programmable acid etching. It provides precise control of temperature, flow, and acid composition to expose device structures for failure analysis, inspection, and reliability investigations.

• Digital 3D microscope: The Keyence VHX-970F enables high-resolution imaging with 3D surface reconstruction and extended depth-of-field. Equipped with lenses covering 20×–1000× magnification, it provides sub-micron resolution and non-contact measurement for detailed surface characterisation.

Capabilities

• Detection of cracks, voids, and delamination

• High-resolution images of internal structures

• Root cause failure analysis reports

• Package integrity assessments

Applications

• Semiconductor device failure investigation

• Quality assurance

• Reliability testing

• Packaging defect analysis

Related capabilities

• Power Electronics - Environmental and Thermal Testing

• Power Electronics - Electronic Device Assembly and Packaging

• Power Electronics - Characterisation and Emulation

Contact

Claire Gerard: / 07385 145064