Chart Chambers are used for HALT/HASS testing. HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Testing) is used to uncover design and/or process weaknesses. During this process, the product is subjected to gradually higher stress levels brought on by thermal dwells, vibration, rapid temperature transitions, voltage and frequency margining, combined environments, and any other stresses deemed relevant for a HALT process. Throughout the process, the intent is to subject the product to stimuli well beyond the expected field environments to determine the operating and destruct limits of the product. Failures that typically show up in the field over a long period of time at much lower stress levels are quickly discovered while applying high stress conditions over a much shorter period of time.

The HALT process is primarily a margin discovery process. In order to ruggedize the product, the root cause of each failure needs to be determined and the problems corrected until the fundamental limit of the technology for the product can be reached. This process will yield the widest possible margin between product capabilities and the environment in which it will operate, thus increasing the product’s reliability, reducing the number of field returns and realizing long-term savings.

The operating and destruct limits discovered during this process can be used to develop an effective HASS (Highly Accelerated Stress Screen) for manufacturing which will quickly detect any process flaws or new weak links without taking significant life out of the product. The HASS process will ensure that the reliability gains achieved through the HALT will be maintained in future production.

Chart has dedicated HALT/HASS experts that can come to your facility for in-house seminars. Please contact Chart Sales for details.

For a presentation explaining HALT in greater detail, click the button below.