When Tested Chips Need More Inspection
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On November 10, 2026, Semiconductor Engineering published an article exploring a question of concern in the test industry: why chips that pass all production tests may still fail in the field. Industry experts (from PDF Solutions, Teradyne, proteanTecs, and Nordson) noted that marginal behavior often hides within spec limits, so "passing tests" does not equal "reliability." To screen out such high-risk devices that still qualify, the industry can leverage device-level models, cross-insertion test data, and physical inspection methods (such as detecting microbump voids, non-wetting, and delamination) to flag suspect chips; however, the experts also stressed that abnormal test behavior does not necessarily mean a real defect. The article also discusses the economic criteria for additional screening: extra inspection is worthwhile only when it can expose suspect weaknesses and its cost is lower than the field failures it prevents by removing such devices, because "nothing is more expensive than a field failure." This report is currently the only source of information on the matter, with no follow-up developments reported.
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- Semiconductor Engineering Chips and PackagingWhich Passing Chips Need More Testing?
Chips that pass all production tests can still fail in the field, because marginal behavior often hides within spec limits. Experts from PDF Solutions, Teradyne, proteanTecs, and Nordson note that device-level models, cross-insertion test data, and physical inspection (such as microbump voids, non-wets, and delamination) can flag suspicious passing chips, but an anomaly is not necessarily a defect. Extra screening only pays off when the added test exposes suspect weaknesses at a cost below the failures it prevents, because "nothing is more expensive than a field failure."
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