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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC)
INTC 36.78+2.7%Nov 26 3:59 PM EST
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To: Tony Viola who wrote (77331)3/27/1999 12:32:00 AM
From: Saturn V  Read Replies (3) of 186894
 
'Yield vs Reliability' and Pentium III ID technology

I just finished reading a paper presented by Intel at the International Reliability Physics Symposium last week. The title is "Microprocessor Reliability Performance as a Function of Die Location for a 0.25micron Five Layer Metal CMOS Logic process" by W.C.Riordan et al.

As we know Intel has the Chip ID feature for the existing 0.25micron process. The Chip ID has been used to perform a massive study of 'Reliability vs Yield Issue' which is dear to your heart. Intel performed a study of 1 million processors which shows a dramatic correlation between yield and reliability. Apparently the Chip ID allows Intel to track the Wafer Lot No, the Wafer No and even the X-Y location on the wafer the chip was made from This showed an even more dramatic correlation between yield and reliability. As is common knowledge in the chip business, the edges of the wafer have poorer yield due to worse process control at the edge of the wafer. Interestingly, Intel showed that chips in the vicinity of the wafer edge or other low yielding areas also have poorer reliability than chips from high yielding areas of a wafer. The paper showed that several yield limiting mechanisms also affect reliability of supposed good parts.

Implications: Since the Chip ID easily allows the Chip maker to determine whether the chip came from a high yielding area or poor yielding area. This allows the chip manufacturer to know in advance how reliable the part will be. Customers very sensitive to reliability of a chip may demand that their chips have this Chip ID feature and that the manufacturer send them parts from the "Prime Yield" areas. [ This may give the word prime cut a new meaning.] Such customers would obviously pay a premium for their Prime Cut.

Intel could leverage their leadership in this technology in Reliability Sensitive markets like Servers.
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