What is Silicon Burn-In Testing?

Burn-in test is a type of high-stress testing performed on packaged silicon chips to accelerate the detection of infant mortality failures. Infant mortality failures are failures that occur within the first few hours or days of operation and are often caused by manufacturing defects, such as short circuits or improper bonding.

During burn-in testing, packaged chips are subjected to a series of tests that simulate real-world operating conditions. The devices are typically powered on and run at elevated temperatures and voltages for an extended period of time, often several hours or days. The purpose of burn-in testing is to identify any devices that are likely to fail in the field due to infant mortality failures, and to eliminate them before they are assembled into finished products.

Burn-in testing is an important step in the manufacturing process of silicon chips and integrated circuits, as it helps to improve the reliability and performance of the final product. By identifying and eliminating devices that are likely to fail, burn-in testing helps to reduce the cost of the manufacturing process by reducing the amount of defective devices that must be discarded, and it helps to reduce the number of warranty claims and returns from customers.