Defect Challenges Grow At The Wafer Edge


Reducing defects on the wafer edge, bevel, and backside is becoming essential as the complexity of developing leading-edge chips continue to increase, and where a single flaw can have costly repercussions that span multiple processes and multi-chip packages. This is made more difficult by the widespread rollout of such processes as hybrid bonding, which require pristine surfaces, and the gro... » read more

Promises and Perils of Parallel Test


Testing multiple devices at the same time is not providing the equivalent reduction in overall test time due to a combination of test execution issues, the complexity of the devices being tested, and the complex tradeoffs required for parallelism. Parallel testing is now the norm — from full wafer probe DRAM testing with thousands of dies to two-site testing for complex, high-performance c... » read more

Standardizing Defect Coverage In Analog/Mixed Signal Test


A newly drafted IEEE standard will bring more consistency to defect metrics in analog/mixed (AMS) designs, a long-overdue step that has become too difficult to ignore in the costly heterogeneous assemblies being deployed inside of data centers and mobile devices. Standardizing analog is no simple feat due to the legacy approach to AMS design, and this is not the first attempt at improving te... » read more

AI/ML’s Role In Design And Test Expands


The role of AI and ML in test keeps growing, providing significant time and money savings that often exceed initial expectations. But it doesn't work in all cases, sometimes even disrupting well-tested process flows with questionable return on investment. One of the big attractions of AI is its ability to apply analytics to large data sets that are otherwise limited by human capabilities. In... » read more

Metrology And Inspection For The Chiplet Era


New developments and innovations in metrology and inspection will enable chipmakers to identify and address defects faster and with greater accuracy than ever before, all of which will be required at future process nodes and in densely packed assemblies of chiplets. These advances will affect both front-end and back-end processes, providing increased precision and efficiency, combined with a... » read more

Driving Cost Lower and Power Higher With GaN


Gallium nitride is starting to make broader inroads in the lower-end of the high-voltage, wide-bandgap power FET market, where silicon carbide has been the technology of choice. This shift is driven by lower costs and processes that are more compatible with bulk silicon. Efficiency, power density (size), and cost are the three major concerns in power electronics, and GaN can meet all three c... » read more

Delivering On Power During HPC Test


The industry’s insatiable need for power in high-performance computing (HPC) is creating problems for test cells, which need to deliver very high currents at very consistent voltage levels through the power delivery network (PDN). In response, ATE, wafer probe, and contactor vendors are introducing some innovative approaches and test procedures that can ensure robust power delivery to ATE pro... » read more

Digital Twins Find Their Footing In IC Manufacturing


Momentum is building for digital twins in semiconductor manufacturing, tying together the various processes and steps to improve efficiency and quality, and to enable more flexibility in the fab and assembly house. The movement toward digital twins opens up a slew of opportunities, from building and equipping new fabs faster to speeding yield ramps by reducing the number of silicon-based tes... » read more

X-ray Inspection Becoming Essential In Advanced Packaging


X-ray technology is moving into the mainstream of chip manufacturing as complex assemblies and advanced packaging make it increasingly difficult to ensure these devices will work as expected throughout their lifecycles. A single defect in a chiplet or interconnect can transform a complex advanced package into expensive scrap, and the risk only increases as the chip industry shifts from homog... » read more

What’s Missing In Test


Experts at the Table: Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss how functional test content is brought up at first silicon, and the balance between ATE and system-level testing, with Klaus-Dieter Hilliges, V93000 platform extension manager at Advantest Europe; Robert Cavagnaro, fellow in the Design Engineering Group at Intel (responsible for manufacturing and test strategy of data center... » read more

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