CSAM Acoustic Microscopy Used in Non-Authenic Electronic Component Detection

July 7, 2011 - PRLog -- Joseph Federico, Director of Operations at NJMET Laboratory in NJ has led a state of the art testing program validating electronic part authenticity called Mission Imposter®.  In recent months, it has been reported that non-authentic electronic Integrated Circuits (ICs)  have resulted in upwards of $1.2 trillion in lost sales which has either been ignored or sanctioned by the Chinese Government. It is estimated that all commercial electronic devices contain more than 8 percent of non-authentic components.

Joseph Federico has announced that NJMET has changed the way that they have been using CSAM Acoustic Microscopy Testing to identify non-authentic electronic components.  

Acoustic Microscopy is a screening technique used to uncover anomalies in the electronic component package and construction.  It is a non-destructive screening technique whose advantages include the detection of void formations, delaminations, cracks and fractures as well as other hidden internal defects within inherently susceptible materials and various device types like SOIC’s, CSP’s, and encapsulating materials.

Ultrasound is broadly defined as any sound having a frequency above 20 KHz, which is approximately the highest frequency that can be detected by the human ear. However, the acoustic microscopes emit ultrasounds ranging from 5 MHz to beyond 400 MHz so that micrometer size resolution can be achieved. The ultrasound that penetrates a sample may be scattered, absorbed or reflected by the internal features or the material itself. These actions are analogous to the behavior of light. Ultrasound that is reflected from an internal feature, or (in some applications) that has traveled through the entire thickness of the sample, is used to make acoustic images.

“In our laboratory, we have been very successful in using CSAM to uncover differences of a known authentic electronic component versus a probable suspect component by not only analyzing surface scans to uncover component surface contrasts but we have also been able to uncover internal popcorning of devices that were unable to meet the manufactures maximum temperature operating range,” said NJMET VP Joseph Federico headquartered in Clifton, NJ.

Acoustic Microscopy has been a valuable tool in uncovering these anomalies and is highly recommended in analyzing the probable suspect problems in the failure.

For more information on CSAM: Acoustic Microscopy Testing or NJMET’s Mission Imposter Authenticity Test Program, please call Joseph Federico at NJMET Clifton, NJ at (973) 546-5393. Please visit NJMET at www.njmetmtl.com

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About NJMET:
NJMET provides professional electronic component testing to the Commercial, Military, Aerospace, Industrial and Automotive fields worldwide. Its state of the art Mission Imposter® Counterfeit Detection Process identifies counterfeit or cloned products.

NJMET has recently expanded their standards-based testing services to include paper, textile, concrete, medical device and pharmaceutical testing.