Best in Test Finalists 2010: Semiconductor test

-- Test & Measurement World, 12/22/2009 12:00:00 PM

Return to the entire list of Best in Test finalists for 2010.

--Cassini16 ATE System, Roos Instruments
--ETS-88 Multisite Test System, Teradyne
--IMA, Integrated Multi-System Architecture, LTX/Credence
--Pyramid-MW Production Probe Card, Cascade Microtech
--Series S530 Parametric Test System, Keithley Instruments
--T5503 DDR3 Memory Test System, Advantest

 

Cassini16 ATE System
Roos Instruments
www.roos.com

Roos says that its Cassini16 system creates a new class of ATE (automated test equipment) that straddles the cost-performance requirements of IC and benchtop-based production systems for finished electronic modules and end products. By moving nearly 100% of the function-specific capability to optional TIMs (test instrument modules), the company has created an extremely low-cost, zero- pin-count base system. For the benchtop ATE community, Cassini provides an integrated development environment, factory (robotic) automation, data collection, and a speed improvement of up to 10X.

The TIMs provide a near-zero mean time to repair, built-in portable calibration, and a very short development time, allowing for incremental system upgrades and reconfiguration. Current TIMs include power VI (40 pin), universal digital (100 MHz, 120 pins), digital-modulated 6-GHz source, 6-GHz vector measure, and super low phase-noise-modulation source and capture.

The starting price for a base system is about $50,000; a typical configuration starts at around $200,000.

 

ETS-88 Multisite Test System
Teradyne
www.teradyne.com

The Teradyne ETS-88 features a modular architecture coupled with a multithreaded operating system to provide configuration flexibility and optimized cost of test for power-management and catalog linear devices. The system, available with one to four test "quadrants," supports 32 to 128 digital pins and 72 to 288 analog pins.

Quadrants can be used independently to test different devices on different peripherals; or quadrants can be linked for multisite testing with parallel test efficiencies approaching 100%, quadrant to quadrant. Alternatively, multiple quadrants can be used to realize true concurrent test.

Finally, the "Index Parallel" capability embedded in the operating system allows users to use the quadrants to support multiple, independent test sites on turret handlers to achieve the full throughput potential of these handlers, while the operating system automatically integrates the test data from each test site into a single datalog stream for each device.

Prices start at $150,000.

 

IMA, Integrated Multi-System Architecture
LTX/Credence
www.ltxc.com

IMA is a test architecture that enables the creation of large tester arrays using compact, lower-cost production test systems. IMA test arrays use parallel processing, virtually eliminating the need to add test overhead. And the arrays can be reconfigured back into individual test cells to address the shifting capacity needs of semiconductor production.

The first LTX-Credence offering using IMA is the Diamond platform. An array using three Diamond systems provides a test capability of up to 2400 digital/analog pins and can accommodate multisite applications exceeding 256 devices.

A key feature of an IMA tester array is the ratio of resource count to the physical area it requires. An array of Diamond systems can reside in a single test cell while doing the work of multiple systems. This facilitates docking to a single handler or prober in high multisite applications, reducing production floor space and the capital costs of handling equipment.

Aside from the cost of the individual testers, the IMA package (the IMA controller and mechanics and test-head manipulator) costs less than $100,000.

 

Pyramid-MW Production Probe Card
Cascade Microtech
www.cascademicrotech.com

According to Cascade Microtech, ABI Research has predicted that 1 million wireless HDTVs will be installed worldwide by 2012, and Strategy Analytics has forecast that more than 2.3 million cars will be equipped with collision-avoidance radar systems by 2011, requiring over 30 million radar sensors. This trend calls for high-frequency, high-volume probing technology.

Using Cascade Microtech's thin-film technology, the Pyramid-MW is an 81-GHz millimeter-wave probe card that delivers repeatable measurements to ensure high-yield, known-good die can be shipped. The Pyramid-MW production probe card provides a robust production solution to shipping at-speed known-good die in high volume. 

The probe card streamlines production testing of high-bandwidth, short-range RFIC devices for WirelessHD, automotive radar, and other wireless applications up to 81 GHz. Cascade Microtech's durable photo-lithographically defined fine-pitch tip structure enables small pad probing and provides consistent low-contact resistance and lowers production test cost through fast setups, minimal maintenance, and documented cleaning regimes.

Pricing was not provided.

 

Series S530 Parametric Test System
Keithley Instruments
www.keithley.com

Unlike testers optimized for 24/7 production test, the S530 systems are cost-effective alternatives for lower-volume fabs and lab environments that must handle a broad mix of devices and technologies, according to Keithley. They provide a bridge between interactive testing in the lab and production testing in the fab, as well as low-cost parametric test.

All three configurations combine test-plan flexibility, automation, prober integration, and data-management capabilities. The Basic System is a cost-effective full-featured tester. With sourcing up to 1 A/200 V with nominal measurement sensitivity, it's suitable for general-purpose process monitoring. The Low Current System's ultra-low-leakage matrix, sub-picoamp resolution, and low current guarding all the way to the probe card make it ideal for characterizing submicron silicon MOS technologies. And the High Voltage System can source up to 1000 V for use in difficult breakdown and leakage tests in automotive electronics and power management applications.

The price of an S530 system can range from $79,000 to $170,000.

 

T5503 DDR3 Memory Test System
Advantest Corporation
www.advantest.com

Accompanying the shift to high-speed DDR3-SDRAM is a corresponding requirement from device manufacturers for higher-speed and more accurate test capabilities, and an insistence on lowered costs for mass production. Advantest's T5503 expanded capacity DDR3 memory test system addresses these needs, delivering superior throughput and lowered test costs for high-speed manufacturing.

The T5503 offers a parallel test capacity throughput of up to 256 DDR3 devices and boasts a high uptime and utilization. Furthermore, to help to measure the characteristics of memory devices at high speeds with a high level of accuracy, T5503 uses an enriched multi-strobe function that measures the phase difference between the reference clock signal and data output signals at each cycle—a significant benefit as operating frequencies become higher. When coupled with Advantest's M6242 handler, the T5503 provides a DDR3 test cell that delivers performance and yield as well as low-cost volume-production test.

System pricing begins at $1.2 million.