2008 International Reliability Physics Symposium Returns to Phoenix.

PHOENIX -- The IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium's (IRPS) 46th annual conference returns to Phoenix, Ariz., from April 27 through May 1, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix at Civic Plaza.

Since the early 1960s, the IRPS helped to advance microelectronics by improving the reliability of the technology behind the devices that drive the 21st century economy.

This year's IRPS general chair is Dr. John Suehle, group leader at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and a noted expert on gate oxide reliability studies. Dr. Tom Moore, president and founder of Omniprobe, Inc., in Dallas, Texas, serves as this year's technical program chair, supervising the selection of technical papers for the 2008 IRPS. He previously worked for 17 years in Texas Instruments' Central Research Labs where he managed FIB, SEM, TEM, scanning laser, acoustic microscopy and packaging research activities, and pioneered the application of acoustic imaging for IC package inspection.

"This is the third time we've come to Phoenix since 2004, which is a clear indication of the importance of the Southwest to the microelectronics industry," said John Suehle, general chair of the 2008 IRPS. "More than 500 engineers and scientists from around the world joined us last year in Phoenix for our largest symposium to date. With the support of the Phoenix-area microelectronics industry, we hope to exceed that number this year."

"The research that has come out of the IRPS has led directly to important technical advances in microelectronics, such as flash memory," said Tom Moore, technical program chair.

Technical papers for the 2008 IRPS will review the latest research and advances in silicon (integrated circuits, discrete devices, MEMS), non-silicon (GaAs, LEDs and diode lasers, optical fiber and flat panel displays), and emerging technologies, including organic electronics and nanotechnology.

The symposium's three-day technical program features research 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. Following is the two-day tutorial program, providing attendees the opportunity to study new technical areas with industry experts, and the Reliability Year-In-Review Seminar, which surveys noted work published from the previous year in key reliability areas.

About IRPS

For more than four decades, 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 accepted IRPS papers will appear in the symposium proceedings publication, as well as on the Virtual IRPS DVD-ROM, which is available now for the previous 2007 IRPS.

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