ABSTRACT

The quality and reliability of plastic-encapsulated microcircuits (PEMs) manufactured today are closely equivalent, and in some ways superior, to their hermetic counterparts. The key to reliable use of PEMs in military applications is gained by matching the capabilities of PEMs to the application environment. The intent of this paper is to address the guidelines for achieving these ends by summarizing the strengths and limitations of PEMs relative to hermetic packages, discussing the associated failure mechanisms and reliability data, and outlining the best practices for both the production of PEMs and their use in the system application.