Here a technician is using X-ray to examine an electronic part’s internal construction. He focuses on the X-ray image on the right-hand screen. Commonly, he X-rays several parts to make sure their construction technique is consistent. Lack of consistency draws suspicion of the part’s authenticity.
to certain niche testing requirements. Marshall estimates there probably are “fewer than 50 labs in the U.S.” With 200 employees, Integra is one of the largest labs and among the select few that specializes in electronic parts. A tour of Integra’s facilities reveals an
environment as clean and orderly as a hospital operating room. Occupants must wear smocks made of conductive fibers to dissipate static electricity, which can damage components. The engineers and technicians also must wear wrist straps and shoe covers. For some tested product types, hairnets must be worn. Room temperature and humidity levels are scrupulously controlled. Integra Technologies tests electronic components for various reasons. Most tests are for parts qualification and/ or acceptability, testing for a certain application requirement. A tested part may be an application-specific integrated circuit, or an ASIC, which is custom made. For, say, aviation or military use, a part generally must be tested to operate in temperatures ranging from -55 to 125 degrees C. The company employs temperature-
forcing units to test parts in various physical environmental conditions. And, using automatic test equipment (ATE), Integra’s electrical engineers design conditions meant to simulate the
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operational environment in which a part must perform. Extreme conditions may be employed to accelerate the part’s life. Given that ATE such as the Teradyne J750 and Verigy/Advantest 93000 can cost up to a million dollars and more each, the company gets all possible use out of its equipment, performing tests on electronic parts 24 hours a day seven days a week. Integra Technologies has some 400 customers, including all major avionics and aircraft equipment manufacturers. “The biggest drivers of the qualification work are space and military users,” says Marshall. “NASA and its subcontractors are the most exacting customers, often requiring extended testing flows that can entail many months of environmental stressing and analysis.” For counterfeit parts detection, we saw Integra technicians viewing computer screens hooked to microscopes and X-ray machines. They work like detectives searching ever deeper for clues to determine authenticity. An integrated circuit, for example, first will be examined under a low-magnification microscope to check its overall condition and for suspicious anomalies. From there, the part may go to a person using a high- magnification (1000X) microscope to see, for instance, if the identification inside the package matches the identification on its
outside. To examine its internal construction, the integrated circuit may then be X-rayed. Commonly, a number of parts in a batch are X-rayed to assure consistency in their construction, according to Marshall. Counterfeit detection is not all black and white. “There may be gray areas,” says Integra’s vice president. “If we’re not certain a part is counterfeit, we may say it is ‘suspect’.” Any uncertainty is counterbalanced by thoroughness. From its tests, Integra will submit to its customers copious reports— sometimes 50 pages with both copy and photographs—and initiate conference calls to go over the details of its testing. “Usually, we have fairly high confidence [that counterfeiting has or has not been detected],” says Marshall. “But occasionally, the evidence is just not overwhelming, so we end up on the side of caution.”
Bogus part detection represents a significant part of Integra Technologies’ business. Since the issue of obsolescence and parts counterfeiting is showing no signs of going away, the company expects continued growth in this area. For the foreseeable future, the aviation industry will no doubt require the services Integra provides. “Even a company like Fokker, which hasn’t made aircraft in years, is still supporting their planes,” says Marshall. “And we are there to support them.” AM
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