SBIR-STTR Award

This proposal describes work efforts culminating in the design and eventual (Phase II) development of a prototype circuit card tester utilizing nanoscale sensors combined with laser and optical techniques to analyze circuit cards as an entire, complete system of components, circuit paths, and connectors rather than the sum of its individual parts. This revolutionary new approach has been made possible through the development of nanotechnology-based devices that can sense characteristics and changes at the molecular level, lending itself to the detection of entire classes of anomalies and failures that are not detectable using currently available automatic or other test equipment currently performing end-to-end diagnostic testing of individual signal parameters. These characteristics include degraded operational performance resulting from the aging of components as well as from corrosion, wear, stress, and other effects that may accumulate in the field. Our approach focuses on the development of a small footprint, man-portable lightweight system capable of being deployed via Humvee or remotely controlled ground or air vehicle to remote locations

Advances in nanotechnology and imaging, using Terahertz (THz) radiation and other techniques, are applied to create a completely new method for evaluating electronic circuit cards. These technologies are used to implement a complementary testing methodology that utilizes the strengths of each approach to investigate a broad range of physical, electrical, thermal and mechanical failure modes that are not identifiable using these technologies in a singular fashion. Our imaging methods can look through integrated circuit substrates, discrete electronic components, connectors, and printed circuit boards to detect evidence of failures within. In addition, nanoscale sensors are tuned to detect the chemical and physical properties of electronic device failure. Such an approach facilitates the construction of a multidimensional model of the UUT through which a truly holistic approach to circuit board testing, involving evaluating the circuit board as an entirety of its component characteristics rather than the sum of individual parametric measures. Moreover, our approach adds several more dimensions to failure identification that are not even considered using LASAR and other contemporary test methodologies. This technology can be inserted into a man-portable, lightweight container capable of being easily transported by Humvee and remotely controlled ground or air vehicles.

Keywords:
Nanotechnology, Terahertz, Automatic Test Equipment, Ate, Test Program Set, Tps