Failure analysis is the preferred method to investigate product or process reliability and to ensure optimum performance of electrical components and systems. The physics-of-failure approach is the only internationally accepted solution for continuously improving the reliability of materials, devices and processes. The models have been developed from the physical and chemical phenomena that are responsible for degradation or failure of electronic components and materials and now replace popular distribution models for failure mechanisms such as Weibull or lognormal.

Reliability engineers need practical orientation around the complex procedures involved in failure analysis. This guide acts as a tool for all advanced techniques, their benefits and vital aspects of their use in a reliability programme. Using twelve complex case studies, the authors explain why failure analysis should be used with electronic components, when implementation is appropriate and methods for its successful use.

Inside you will find detailed coverage on: a synergistic approach to failure modes and mechanisms, along with reliability physics and the failure analysis of materials, emphasizing the vital importance of cooperation between a product development team involvedthe reasons why failure analysis is an important tool for improving yield and reliability by corrective actionsthe design stage, highlighting the 'concurrent engineering' approach and DfR (Design for Reliability) failure analysis during fabrication, covering reliability monitoring, process monitors and package reliability reliability resting after fabrication, including reliability assessment at this stage and corrective actions a large variety of methods, such as electrical methods, thermal methods, optical methods, electron microscopy, mechanical methods, X-Ray methods, spectroscopic, acoustical, and laser methodsnew challenges in reliability testing, such as its use in microsystems and nanostructures

This practical yet comprehensive reference is useful for manufacturers and engineers involved in the design, fabrication and testing of electronic components, devices, ICs and electronic systems, as well as for users of components in complex systems wanting to discover the roots of the reliability flaws for their products.

This book examines the identification choices of a group of biracial college women and explores how these identifications relate to their choices and constructions of different social contexts. It is a qualitative study that draws on recent psychological literature, as well as personal interviews and focus groups with a group of biracial college women. The book includes 1) a review of the relevant literature concerning biracial individuals, 2) a discussion of some of the unique issues facing researchers who work with biracial populations, and 3) an indepth examination of the relationship between identity and different social contexts for a group of biracial women. The book addresses issues critical to educators, counselors, policy makers and researchers who work with biracial students, as well as biracial individuals and their families. For example, it shows how, for this group of biracial college women, identity choices did influence their choices and constructions of social contexts, particularly at the school that they all attended. Yet while identification choices did influence their perceptions about their social contexts, other factors such as social barriers also influenced them. Family members played a role in their identification choices as well, but siblings were found to be more influential than parents. In addition, the book demonstrates how educators and biracial mentors had a significant impact on this particular group of biracial women. The implications of these findings for parents, educators and future researchers are considered, as the number of biracial individuals living in the United States continues to grow.

Around the world, policymakers and civil society are debating how economic and trade policies shape public health. This edited collection adds a new dimension to this debate. It synthesizes research from a variety of disciplines to analyse how the liberalization of international trade affects reproductive health and rights. Case studies from Mexico, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Egypt illuminate how trade-related changes in women's employment influence their reproductive needs and capacities. The book demonstrates how global and national trade policies affect the quality, quantity, and cost of reproductive health services. Contributors also explore the implications of the World Trade Organization and the various trade agreements under its purview for reproductive health services and rights. Ultimately, this collection addresses the key policy issues for advocates of both reproductive health and rights and economic justice, and shows how trade agreements weighted against the poor in the South have very specific gendered consequences. This book is aimed at an inter-disciplinary audience of economists, public health professionals, demographers, sociologists, anthropologists, and women's studies specialists. It will also be of interest to policymakers and representatives of civil society organizations working on health, economic justice, and employment issues.