Environmental stress screening (ESS)

Abstract

Reliability tests are often indispensable. The material properties, needed in design, can only sometimes be found in data sheets. If they are not available, they must be obtained by testing. Also, the manufacturers of electrical components must provide the reliability data for catalogues (e.g. the failure rate and the data characterizing the influence of some factors, such as temperature or vibrations). It is also impossible to predict with 100% accuracy the properties of a complex system consisting of many parts, whose properties vary more or less around the nominal values. In all these cases, tests are often necessary to verify whether the object has the demanded properties or if it conforms to the standards. Environmental stress screening is a powerful tool for electronic-systems designers to improve electronic-design reliability.