What is AEC-Q100 Qualification?

AEC-Q100 is a failure mechanism based stress test qualification for packaged integrated circuits used in automotive applications. This specification has been established by the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC) to define qualification requirements and procedures for packaged integrated circuits used in the automotive industry. An AEC-Q100 qualified device means that the device has passed the specified stress tests and guarantees a certain level of quality/reliability.

There are four temperature ranges defined under Grade 0,1,2 and 3 in AEC-Q100. These ranges depend upon the ICs operating temperature range.

The Automotive Electronics Council (AEC), based in the United States was originally established by Chrysler, Ford, and GM for the purpose of establishing common part-qualification and quality-system standards.

Click here for the official document from the AEC on the AEC-Q100 qualification process. (published in 2014).

There are three other relevant standards published by AEC:

AEC-Q200 - This standard has been created for passive components used in the Automotive Industry.

AEC-Q101 - This standard has been created for Active components used in the Automotive Industry.

AEC-Q104 - This standard has been created for Multi-Chip Modules (MCM) used in the Automotive Industry.