Picking The Right Location For Probe Stations

By Peter Andrews - 08 Dec, 2020 - Comments: 0

High performance flicker noise or phase noise TestCells can be degraded by installing them in a bad location. And just like developing a high-performance system, finding a good location can be a time consuming and difficult task for the typical lab technician that is tasked with setting up the new prober. To do it right requires specialized measurement equipment and tools such as accelerometers... » read more

High Throughput Noise Measurements

By Peter Andrews - 10 Nov, 2020 - Comments: 0

Flicker noise and random telegraph noise (RTN) testing can take a long time, especially when measuring down to frequencies of 1 Hz or below. Sweep times up to 30 min at a single temperature are common. And standard data collection for device models requires DUT data at multiple temperatures on small pads. To lower Cost of Test (CoT), and significantly increase on-wafer test throughput, a... » read more

Eliminating Ground-Loop Induced Noise

By Peter Andrews - 13 Oct, 2020 - Comments: 0

As semiconductor device performance increases, especially for low power and higher speed ICs, testing low frequency 1/f, RTN and phase noise with improved signal-to-noise ratio is required. Finding and eliminating unwanted noise is required in multiple areas. Noise sources can be found inside a prober, outside a prober, and in a measurement TestCell. Historically, TestCell-generated noise was o... » read more