2007 International Reliability Physics Symposium Sets Sights on Phoenix.

PHOENIX -- The IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium's (IRPS) 45th annual conference returns to Phoenix, Ariz., from April 15 through April 19, 2007, at the new Phoenix Convention Center in conjunction with the Hyatt Regency.

Begun in 1962 for the aerospace and defense industries, the IRPS has since grown to become the premier event for physics-based micro or nano reliability. Peer-reviewed technical papers presented each year at the conference pioneer new technology and establish new manufacturing processes that become industry standards.

Dr. Edward Cole, a senior scientist from Sandia National Laboratories who is responsible for all failure analysis technology development, serves as the general chair for the 2007 IRPS. Dr. Cole previously served as general chair for the International Symposium for Testing and Failure Analysis (ISTFA) and is recognized worldwide for his failure analysis expertise having presented many papers and tutorials on the subject.

This year's technical program chair is Dr. Ronald Lacoe of the Aerospace Corporation, currently serving as a member of the technical staff and a senior scientist in the Microelectronics Technology Department, Laboratory Operations. In this capacity, Dr. Lacoe is responsible for research in the areas of microelectronics reliability and radiation hardness for microelectronics, which will be employed in Air Force space programs. Dr. Lacoe has published more than 120 papers and received the 1997 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium's Best Paper Award, the 1997 NSREC Meritorious Paper Award and the 1998 NSREC Outstanding Paper Award. Dr. Cole and Dr. Lacoe have worked closely together on previous symposia and bring their expertise to this year's event.

"We were in Phoenix last in 2004," noted Dr. Cole. "The opportunity to bring IRPS back to the Southwest keeps us in the center of an area vital to the microelectronics industry."

Last year, over 650 engineers, scientists and industry professionals attended the 2006 IRPS in San Jose, Calif., continuing the symposium's trend of rising attendance and technical paper submissions. More than 20 technical sessions with over 100 platform presentations and 66 posters provided those attending the 2006 IRPS with a broad review of the research being conducted in microelectronics reliability from Asia to Europe to North America.

The focus of the symposium is the three-day technical program featuring original work that identifies new microelectronic failure or degradation mechanisms, improves understanding of known failure mechanisms, demonstrates new or innovative analytical techniques, or demonstrates ways to build-in reliability. New this year are emphases on 1) reliability and qualification issues for microelectronics in extreme environments, e.g. automotive/high temperature, avionics, and/or radiation/space environments and 2) reliability and drift phenomenon in organic-based electronic devices, including Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) and Organic Thin Film Transistors (OTFTs).

Additionally, attendees can participate in the two-day tutorial program, which provides opportunity to learn a new area in some technical depth from industry experts, as well as catch up with important work published from the previous year in key reliability areas with the Reliability Year-In-Review Seminar.

The symposium also presents manufacturing companies with an ever-expanding forum for hands-on demonstrations of the latest manufacturing equipment to leading engineers and researchers in the microelectronics industry.

Keynote speakers at past symposia include: Tim Collopy, director of IBM's Technology Group (2006), David W. Yen, executive vice president of Sun Microsystems Scalable Systems Group (2005), Dr. Hans Stork, chief technology officer of Texas Instruments (2004), and Dr. Shang-yi Chiang, senior vice president and head of the research and development group of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC), and Mark T. Bohr, an Intel fellow and director of process architecture and integration at Intel (both in 2003).

About IRPS

For 45 years, IRPS has been one of the leading meetings for engineers in the area of electronic component reliability. IRPS promotes the comprehension of reliability and performance of integrated circuits and microelectronic assemblies through an improved understanding of failure mechanisms in the user's environment. Originally started in the early 1960's by the military and aerospace community, IRPS is now sponsored by IEEE Reliability Society and IEEE Electron Devices Society. All IRPS platform papers and posters will appear in the symposium proceedings publication.

For further information, please visit the IRPS Web site at www.irps.org or contact: