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Review of Case Materials
Reviews records, documents, testimony, data, and other relevant materials and consults with counsel regarding technical issues related to the matter.
Provide Expert Analysis
Applies specialized knowledge and experience to evaluate the technical or professional issues involved.
Form Expert Opinions
Develops independent, supportable opinions based on the available evidence and relevant standards.
Prepare Expert Reports
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Electrical degradation can appear as changes in parameters such as leakage current, threshold voltage, on-resistance, breakdown behavior, capacitance, switching characteristics, or other device-specific measurements. Which indicators are relevant depends on the semiconductor material, device architecture, operating conditions, and suspected failure mechanism. Results should be compared with appropriate baseline or specification data and interpreted with the applied bias, temperature, test method, measurement uncertainty, and expected device variation rather than treating a change in one parameter as proof of degradation.
Microscopy can reveal structural or material features that may help locate and characterize a semiconductor failure. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy can examine defects, interfaces, interconnects, layer structure, and other features at micro- to nanoscale dimensions, while analytical techniques used with electron microscopy can provide compositional information. The appropriate method depends on the suspected defect, required spatial resolution, specimen preparation, and whether structural, chemical, or compositional information is needed. NIST identifies TEM and STEM as widely used methods for semiconductor process development and failure analysis.
Silicon carbide, or SiC, is a wide-bandgap semiconductor with properties that support high-voltage, high-temperature, and high-power-density applications. Compared with conventional silicon devices, SiC devices can involve different electric-field stresses, thermal behavior, material defects, gate-dielectric and interface characteristics, switching conditions, and packaging demands. Reliability analysis should therefore use the characteristics of the specific SiC material and device structure rather than assuming that limits or failure mechanisms established for silicon apply directly. NIST has documented SiC-specific reliability issues involving material defects, leakage, breakdown behavior, and gate-dielectric interfaces.
Semiconductors, +7
Manufacturing
Prepares clear, well-supported expert reports outlining methodology, analysis, findings, and opinions.
Provide Deposition Testimony
Explains findings and opinions under oath and responds to questioning during deposition testimony.
Testify in Court
Presents specialized findings and opinions clearly to judges, juries, arbitrators, or other decision-makers.
Sometimes. Electrical measurements, prior test data, wafer and lot records, stress-test results, service conditions, and physical failure analysis can help determine whether the evidence is more consistent with a pre-existing fabrication or material condition, progressive degradation during service, a discrete electrical or thermal overstress, or a combination of mechanisms. A latent defect may remain functional until later operating stresses cause measurable degradation or failure. The strength of any conclusion about timing depends on how well the available records and physical evidence document the device's condition before and after the failure.
