AEC-Q101-2021

In the automotive industry the reliability of electronic devices directly affects vehicle performance and passenger safety. As vehicles become more electronic, requirements for device quality and reliability keep rising. AEC-Q101-2021 provides a comprehensive test and validation framework for automotive electronic devices, ensuring they work stably in harsh automotive environments.

Core objectives of AEC-Q101-2021

The core objective is to ensure, through a series of strict tests, that electronic devices can withstand high temperature, high humidity, vibration, shock and other extreme conditions in automotive applications. These tests include:

1. Highly accelerated stress test (HAST): the durability of the device in high temperature and high humidity.
2. Unsaturated highly accelerated stress test (UHAST): device stability under more severe conditions than HAST.
3. Autoclave (AC): electrical performance under accelerated ageing conditions.
4. High temperature reverse bias (H3TRB): device stability under high temperature and reverse bias.

Purpose and conditions

HAST and UHAST assess the reliability of non-hermetic electronic devices in humid environments. By applying severe temperature, humidity and voltage bias conditions, they accelerate the penetration of moisture through the encapsulating material or along the interface between the encapsulant and metal conductors, quickly revealing latent weaknesses. The conditions reproduce the failure mechanism of the 85/85 steady state humidity life test (JESD22-A101), that is 1000 hours or more at 85℃ and 85 percent RH.

Equipment and process

The equipment includes a chamber able to maintain the specified temperature and relative humidity or pressure continuously, provide electrical connections to the device under test at the specified bias, and keep a record of the relevant curves over the test cycle.

During testing, continuous or cyclic voltage bias may be applied depending on the device characteristics and test requirements. UHAST and AC require no bias, while HAST and H3TRB do, either continuously or cyclically.

Notes on temperature ramping

During ramp up and ramp down the chamber temperature must always stay above the dew point, and condensation on equipment surfaces under stress must be avoided. The return to ambient at the end of the test must also be controlled within a defined time so that no condensation forms on the device surface.

Functional checks

Appearance and electrical parameters must be checked before and after the test, and electrical tests should be performed within 48 hours of returning to ambient. Where electrical parameters are checked during the test, they should be measured as soon as possible after returning to ambient.

Conclusion

Vehicle makers and electronic device suppliers that follow AEC-Q101-2021 can be confident that the devices they select meet the industry's high standards. This improves the overall quality and safety of automotive electronic systems and reinforces consumer safety and trust.

About NTEK

NTEK Group was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. The group provides quality research and technical services covering R&D verification, inspection and testing, failure analysis, simulation and market access for intelligent connected vehicles, electronic communications and new energy.

NTEK has extensive experience in automotive-grade electronic certification and has helped more than 100 companies pass AEC-Q series certification. Driven by the need of vehicle makers to localise automotive-grade components and supported by the domestic semiconductor industry, NTEK provides comprehensive testing and certification services, applying AEC-Q automotive standards to control the safety and quality of automotive components, supporting the growth of domestic automotive-grade components and adding new momentum to the intelligent vehicle safety system.