What is AEC-Q101?

AEC-Q101 is a global standard that defines minimum stress test driven requirements and conditions for discrete (active) electronic components (e.g. transistors, diodes, etc.) used in automotive applications. The purpose of this specification is to determine that a device is capable of passing the specified stress tests and thus can be expected to give a certain level of quality/reliability when used in a car or automotive vehicle.

The minimum temperature range for discrete semiconductors per this specification is -40 to +125ºC for ambient operation, except for LEDs that are required to operate from -40 to +85ºC. The standard is published by the Automotive Electronics Council (AEC), which is a US-based organization that sets qualification standards for the components to be used in the automotive industry.

Click here for the official document from the AEC on the AEC-Q101 qualification process.

There are three other relevant standards published by AEC:

AEC-Q100 - This standard has been created for Integrated Circuits used in the Automotive Industry.

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

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