Abstract:

Burn-in is an accelerated screen, performed to precipitate defects in microelectronic parts, so that defect-related failures do not occur in the field. The data presented in this paper show that burn-in does not precipitate a significant amount of failures and has, in fact, the high potential to cause problems that are not detected during post burn-in examinations. This has serious safety implications especially in terms of military electronics and commercial avionics where burn-in is generally recommended. Further, the results suggest that the philosophy of burn-in elimination (i.e. burn-in until there exists few problems) is no longer appropriate.

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