In-situ service load monitoring of automotive electronic systems using silicon-based piezoresistive stress sensor

Abstract

It is expected that more and more complex (integrated) automotive electronics will be adopted in systems. These advanced electronics are critical for passenger safety. Documenting the in-situ loading is, thus, very important for accurate reliability prognostics. In this study, we propose a piezoresistive stress sensor to detect the in-situ loading of an automotive electronic control unit (ECU). A load metric directly related to the in-situ loading is defined by considering the in-situ stress values of twelve measurement cells in each sensor. The sensor and the proposed load metric are implemented to document the in-situ loading that results from the local coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between the electrical components and printed circuit board (PCB) in advanced ECUs. The validity of the proposed metric is corroborated by failure analysis of solder joints of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs).