Mechanical Engineering Faculty Profile:

Dr. Joseph Bernstein
Associate Professor of Reliability Engineering

0158 Glenn L. Martin Hall, Building 088
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

Phone: 301.405.0357
Fax: 301.314.9477
Email: joey@umd.edu
Website

Research Interests

Electronic systems reliability in aerospace and military applications; electronic device physics of failure, including lifetime behavior of ultra thin gate dielectrics; laser programmable interconnect routing for programmable analog and digital arrays.

Vita

Dr. Bernstein specializes in reliability of microelectronic devices. His courses emphasize fundamental physical mechanism associated with failures in mechanical and electronic systems. He coordinates the degree program in microelectronics reliability. He is actively involved in several areas of Microelectronics Reliability research including gate oxide, metalization reliability, and bulk thermal-mechanical-electrical effects on the reliability, and bulk thermal-mechanical-electrical effects on the reliability of silicon power devices. His largest program is in developing methods to modify electronic circuitry by laser connections and disconnections at the wafer level. These techniques are applicable to wafer scale integration and multi-chip module schemes, as well as laser programmable gate arrays. His research includes applications of Focused Ion Beams (FIB) for analysis of laser- metal-dielectric interactions. Programs are sponsored by NIST, NSA, JPL (NASA), ONR, and industry. Dr. Bernstein supervises a laboratory for laser processing of microelectronic devices and works with the Institute for Plasma Research. He has written a book chapter on laser formed metallic connections that will be published in the LIA Handbook of Laser Materials Processing and co-taught a short course on focused ion-beam applications for microanalysis. Dr. Bernstein also works closely with the two major manufacturers of laser processing equipment and with a start-up company who has licensed his patents for commercial development.

Education

Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990

Select Publications

• Bernstein, J.B., “Laser Link-Making,” in LIA Handbook of Laser Materials Processing, Magnolia Publishing, 2001.
• Vogel, E., Suehle, J.S., Edelstein, M.D., Wang, B., Chen, Y., Bernstein, J.B., “Reliability of Ultra-thin Silicon Dioxide Under Combined Substrate Hot Electron and Constant Voltage Tunneling Stress,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 47, No.6, pp.1183-91, 2000.
• Lee, J., Zhang, W., Bernstein, J.B., “Scalability Study of Laser-induced Vertical Make-link Structure,” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 442-447, 2000.
• Wang, B., Suehle J.S. ,Vogel E.M., Bernstein, J.B., “Time-Dependent Breakdown of Ultra-thin SiO2 Gate Dielectrics under Pulsed Biased Stress,” IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 224-226, 2001.
• Zhang, W., J.-H. Lee, Bernstein, J.B, “Energy Effect of the Laser Induced Vertical Metallic Link,” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 163-169, 2001.
• Yang, L., Bernstein, J.B., Chung, K, “The Impact of Lead-free Soldering on Electronics Packages,” Microelectronics International, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 20-26, 2001.

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