Latest Test and Measurement News

Dynamic Parametric Test Solution for Semiconductor Production

05 October 2021 – Advantest and PDF Solutions have launched their first jointly developed offering since forming a partnership in July 2020. The new Advantest Cloud Solutions (ACS) Dynamic Parametric Test (DPT) powered by PDF Exensio solution is already being used in production by a large integrated device manufacturer. ACS is a highly secure single scalable data platform enabling an open solution ecosystem that helps customers address the most pressing challenges of the Smart Manufacturing era.

This new solution integrates PDF Solutions’ Exensio portfolio of data analytics with Advantest’s V93000 Parametric Test System. The ACS DPT solution is designed to optimize parametric testing on the V93000 test platform with real-time performance and minimal human interaction. Test flows within ACS DPT are designed to be adjusted dynamically to improve test coverage, enhance the characterization of aberrant measurements, and more efficiently collect additional data to support root-cause identification and downstream analytics.

In today’s typical test flow, multiple wafers are evaluated using a static test program, after which the gathered data is stored. The tested wafers are put into inventory while a product engineer analyzes the data. When any anomalies are found, some wafers must be re-evaluated using a modified test program and re-testing of questionable wafers can be delayed if the necessary parametric test cells are already in use. This chain of events can take as much as several days to complete, increasing the overall cost of test and hindering time to market.

ACS DPT is designed to streamline this flow by allowing users to fully determine a wafer’s condition during initial testing. Collected data can be analyzed nearly instantaneously, allowing the test process to be fine-tuned in real time. The improved approach achieved with ACS helps eliminate the need for re-testing while also conserving product engineers’ valuable time and talents.

“By integrating PDF Solutions’ Exensio advanced data analytics with our proven V93000 Parametric Test System, we are elevating our customers’ problem-solving capabilities,” said Keith Schaub, VP, Technology and Strategy at Advantest. “We believe ACS DPT will help customers achieve improved product quality, manufacturing yield and cost efficiencies.”

“One of our goals in partnering with Advantest was to broaden the accessibility of advanced analytics and enable highly beneficial systems and solutions through tighter integration with test,” said Kimon Michaels, EVP, Products and Solutions, and a co-founder of PDF Solutions. “The analytics power provided by Exensio is designed to enable ACS DPT to significantly shorten a customer’s time-to-data and accelerate root cause analysis during test operations, resulting in substantial savings of both time and money for users.”

The new ACS DPT solution is the first ACS product for IC testing optimization. Licenses are now available for customers worldwide.

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